Strong Willed
by ELIZABETH-of-Darkness
Summary: Ryoma Echizen has been sick most of his life. But this does not stop him from excelling in his beloved sport, tennis. Ryoma does not give in to anything! :D
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** Hey everyone! You might not notice it but I edited all the chapters! I re-posted everything! Am I crazy or what? haha! Just felt like doing it! Anyway, nothing much has changed. Read on and please continue to support me! XD

**Disclaimer:** Prince of Tennis is REALLY not mine!

* * *

**Chapter 1**

It was early in the morning. The sunshine lit the room of our main character, Echizen Ryoma. His beloved cat, Karupin crawls under the covers and tries to wake his master. It was the first day of school. Just two weeks ago they returned to Japan to let Ryoma experience a normal life. Why? You ask. They have been living in America since he was born and he really did not experience much of a childhood. Why again? You ask. There are a lot of times when he would spend his days inside a hospital room. He was born with a weak heart. Because of this, he is not able to freely do whatever he wants.

Despite having his illness, Ryoma was determined to live a normal life. He was a tennis prodigy and would occasionally play tennis whenever his health allows it. He was very good at the sport. In fact he won several tournaments in America. This made his parents proud. But they feared for his health so he was not allowed to play for a very long time.

During his sick days he would just sulk in one corner and curse himself for his weakness. Rinko notices this and thought that it would be bad for Ryoma to always pity himself. She thought that Ryoma should have some kind of hobby besides tennis that would allow him to spend his spare time whenever he is sick and not able to play his beloved sport. Rinko introduced him to the cello. Why cello? You may ask. Because Ryoma thinks that playing it would look way cooler than any other instrument. He started learning the cello when he was 7 years old. Whenever he has spare time or if he was just bored, he would play the cello. Rinko was relieved that his son was not as gloomy as before.

A lot of times, Ryoma would be confined inside a hospital room because he collapsed after a tennis match. During those times, he would play the cello. Playing the instrument gives him a peace of mind and also lessens his sadness. But playing the cello was only a hobby for him, although his mentor told him that he was very good at it. He still likes tennis better that playing the cello. He feels a lot more happy whenever he gets a single point from his stupid father or if he wins a tournament. But because of his illness, he did not have a chance to play tennis recently.

Despite this, he does not give up and just trains hard whenever he gets the chance. It was also good news for him when his doctor told him that he was having less and less attacks recently. He told him that his health is getting better and he might be able to completely heal from his sickness. After hearing the news, Rinko decided to return back to Japan and send his son to a normal school. Because his health is getting better she wanted her son to experience the life of a normal boy.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

_BEEP BEEP BEEP_

The sound of Ryoma's alarm clock was heard. He lazily turned it off and went to prepare for school. Today, he would be attending Seishun Gakuen, the former school of his idiot father when he was in meddle school. After preparing, he went downstairs and ate breakfast. He was glad that they were having Japanese food today. After eating, he grabbed his school bag and walked to school.

It was first period and he sat on a seat beside a window near the back of the room. A girl with long twin braids sat next to him. He just ignored everyone and decided to nap. Suddenly he felt a tapping on his shoulders.

"Good Morning, Ryoma-kun." The girl with braids told him. He just stared at her blankly and tried to remember if he knew her. Giving up, he asked her, "Who are you again?"

The girl pouted and just said, "I met you at the train station a week ago."

Finally remembering her, he said in a bored tone, "Ah. You were the weird girl that gave me the wrong directions."

The girl blushes a bit. "S-sorry for that again. I made you late for your match."

"Betsuni. Ne. what's your name again?" giving the girl a curious glance.

"Ryu-ryuuzaki S-sakuno desu." She said shyly.

"Hn." He replied and then went back to napping. He failed to notice the disappointed look in her eyes when he ignored her.

The day went fast and soon it was lunch. He immediately got up and headed for the stairs. He ate his lunch there alone and ignored the people who were going in. After eating his lunch he decided to take a nap. He laid down on the floor of the roof top. He thought of the things he could do now that he is attending a normal school. Compared to being home schooled, attending an actual school is much more a hustle for him. He thinks that there are too many people and that a lot of them are noisy. He also thought of the club he might be joining. Surely, he wanted to join the tennis club if there were any. But he was worried that his parents would not allow him to play. They could be annoying sometimes. Worrying too much about him when he is just feeling okay. The music club might be an option too. That would be a good pass time for him.

Thinking too deeply, he did not notice the students leaving the roof top. That would mean that the lunch break is over. One of the seniors noticed that Ryoma was still laid down on the floor. That senior was a second year and had a broom like hairstyle and violet eyes. He approached him and roughly shook him awake. He said in a loud tone, "Freshman! Lunch is over! Get up and return to your classroom!"

Ryoma groaned and slowly opened his eyes. He felt irritated that someone is interrupting his nap. He stared at the senior with deadly eyes. The older student shivered for a bit but didn't show it. It would be embarrassing to be scared of a freshman.

"What do you want?" Ryoma said coldly, eying the suspicious senior with his feline eyes.

"Lunch is over, brat. Why don't you thank your sempai who helped you not to be late for your next subject?" the second year said.

Ryoma gave him a bored look and then muttered, "Whatever." He gathered his lunch and left the roof, leaving a half pissed and half amused second year student.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

Ryoma entered the classroom and seated on his usual seat beside the girl with twin braids. He placed his empty bento box inside his school bag and stared at the board. Sakuno approached him and said in a soft voice, "Good afternoon, Ryoma-kun. It's good that you were not late. Our teacher today is supposed to be strict and he does not want anyone disrupting his class."

"Hn." He said after staring at her blankly. _Why is this girl talking to me? Well, whatever. It's not like I care._ He thought to himself. He wondered why this long haired weird girl is being nice to him, when he was acting coldly to her.

He stopped his musings when the teacher entered the room and ordered them to 'shut up.' Turns out, this person is their English teacher. He was known to a lot of students as a very strict teacher and also someone who likes to punish anyone who gives him any stupid answer. He did not listen to his loud voice and just stared outside their classroom. He stared at the sakura trees outside and thought about stuff.

The day ended quickly and soon it was time for them to apply for a club. He sat for a while and thought of applying for the music club. Aside from playing tennis, playing the cello is what he does for fun. And he was also curious about how a music club works. He would try to apply for the tennis club when he had asked his parents for permission.

He gathered his things and stood up. When he was at the corridor he bumped into a girl. It seems that the girl was Ryuuzaki Sakuno. The girl stumbled backward and was about to fall when Ryoma grabbed her hand and helped her balance.

Sakuno looked up and blushed in embarrassment when she noticed that she had just bumped into her seatmate. "Ah, R-ryoma-kun! I-I'm really sorry!" she said frantically.

"Betsuni. What are you doing here, Ryuuzaki?" he asked dryly.

"I-I forgot my registration form on my desk." She answered shyly.

"Oh. So this is yours." He handed her a small piece of paper. He had noticed that it was dropped on the floor and was planning on disposing it in the trashcan later on.

"Ah! Th-thank you very much Ryoma-kun." She accepted and then quickly placed it on her pocket. "A-ano…what club are you j-joining, R-ryoma-k-kun?"

He eyed her blankly and thought for a moment if he should just tell her or just walk away. Deciding that telling her would not be a bad idea, he said in a bored tone, "Music club."

"R-really? I will a-also join that club!" she said happily. "Do you want to go to the club r-room together?" she asked.

"Okey." He answered. _ I wonder what instrument Ryuuzaki plays? I bet I'm better than her. _ He smirked at the thought.

They walked silently, Ryoma leading the way. He remembered that Sakuno is not good with directions so it was up to him to find where the music room is. After a couple of minutes of walking they finally reached the music room. It is on the first floor at the west side of the school building. It was on the opposite side of where the tennis courts were.

They entered the room and handed their application forms. He sat at the back of the room and listened at the loud voice of their club president, who is named Ishikawa-sempai. He is a third year student and is playing the violin. He has a brown hair, reaching the back of his neck and is neatly fixed at one side of his face. After his long introductory speech, he asked the new members to introduce themselves and tell them the instrument that they play.

After a short while, it was Ryoma's turn. Sakuno nudged him slightly because he was napping on the table. He thanked her silently, stood up and said, "Echizen Ryoma desu. I play the cello."

Sakuno was surprised that he plays the cello. She thought that the type of instrument he would be playing would be something like a clarinet or a violin. Who knows what made her think that?

It was Sakuno's turn. She stood up and said, "Konnichiwa! My name is Ryuuzaki Sakuno. I play the piano." Ryoma gave her and interested look. She blushed because she noticed that Ryoma is staring at her. She sat down and returned her attention back to Ishikawa.

After all of the members were finished introducing themselves, Ishikawa told them that they will be having some kind of individual presentation during their next meeting. He said it would be to measure their talent. He also said that they are allowed to borrow any instrument if what they will be playing is a big instrument. After the announcement, he dismissed them.

Ryoma stood up and walked out of the room. Sakuno was following him. When she finally caught up to him, she asked, "Umm...Ryoma-kun?"

"What?" He asked, slightly irritated that the girl was being very noisy. He calmed himself down and took a deep breath.

"A-are you not going to sign for the t-tennis club?" she asked shyly.

"Not now." He quickly answered.

"Oh. Okay. I'll be going now. I will also apply for the women's tennis club today. See you tomorrow." She said and then rushed outside to the field and searched for the court.

Meanwhile, Ryoma wandered around the school because he does not want to go home yet and see the annoying face of his father. He ended up watching the tennis team. He sat on the bleachers and watched as they do their practice drills. He was itching to play tennis but he knew that he must not rush. He just stared at them and observed their practice. He occasionally commented about their stances and noticed their flaws.

"Mada mada dane." He muttered to himself.

Some of the regulars who were running their laps noticed the freshman sitting on the bleachers. One of the regulars was the second year who woke Ryoma after lunch period. They looked at him interestedly and continued running. The captain noticed Ryoma and approached him.

"What are you doing there, freshman?" the captain asked him sternly. Ryoma eyed him and answered in a flat tone, "Watching your team mates practice."

"You're from this school right?" he asked. Ryoma nodded.

"What's your name?"

"Echizen Ryoma." He answered. By now, the other regulars were finished doing their laps and were approaching their captain, wondering what was going on.

"Aha! You were the rude freshman on the roof top!" one of them said.

"Who are you?" Ryoma asked. The face looks familiar but he can't remember when he saw this person.

"I'm the one who woke you up during lunch, brat."

"Sou." He answered. He stood up and prepared to leave but was stopped when a hand grabbed his shoulders.

"Are you not joining the team? You look like you know a lot about tennis." asked another one of the regulars. He has an egg shaped head and has a weird looking hairstyle.

"Maybe." He answered in a bored tone.

"Ochibi! Join the tennis club!" shouted the hyperactive cat-like sempai.

"Who are you anyways?" he asked rudely. He was really irritated now. He was not used in this kind of attention and was annoyed because weird strangers were talking to him.

"Oh. Sorry we forgot to introduce ourselves. My name is Ooishi Shuichiro. Third year. I'm the fukubuchou."

"Tezuka Kunimitsu. I'm the buchou of the tennis club."

"Nya! Kikumaru Eiji desu! Yoroshiku Ohibi!"

"Kawamura Takashi desu. Yoroshiku."

"I'm Fuji Shusuke, third year."

"Inui Sadaharu, third year."

"Kaidoh Kaoru desu. Fshuuuu…"

"Momoshiro Takeshi! Yoroshiku, gaki!"

Ryoma gave them a slightly interested look. He then said, "Nice to meet you, sempai-tachi." He slightly bowed and then prepared to leave. And yet again, he was prevented by a hand on his shoulders.

"Not joining the team?" Asked the guy named Momoshiro.

"Like I said earlier, maybe." He answered and then quickly got away.

"Interesting freshman…" said Fuji.

"I hope Ochibi will join the tennis club! He is so kawaii!" Said the energetic Kikumaru.

"Everyone, 20 laps for slacking off." ordered Tezuka.

"Hai!" everyone shouted, and quickly dashed off to begin their laps.

Tezuka massaged his aching head. The freshman surely made a ruckus. He was also curious about the suspicious freshman and wondered why he would not just sign up for the team. He went back to the courts and observed his team.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

"I'm home." Ryoma announced as he walked inside their house. Nanako and Rinko greeted him back.

"Welcome home. How was school today, Ryoma? Did you feel fine?" asked the slightly worried Rinko.

"It was okay. And I feel fine oka-san." He answered. Then a thought came into his mind. _I wonder if she will allow me to join the tennis club._

"Oka-san." He called as he was sitting on the living room.

"What is it, Ryoma?" she asked.

"Could I join the tennis club?" he asked straight ahead. He is not one to beat around the bush and , besides he wants to find out right away about her answer.

"Eh? Why would you join the tennis club? Didn't we already tell you to avoid straining yourself? And also you told us that you will join the music club. What happened to that?" Rinko asked worriedly

"Well…they looked strong and I want to play them. I already joined the music club. But that is just a hobby. What I really want is to join the tennis club." Ryoma answered.

"What is this about? HUH! Seishounen? You joining the tennis club?" Nanjiroh asked suspiciously. Although he would want his son to play tennis, he is also worried about his health. He didn't want his condition to worsen especially now that he is getting better.

"I did not join yet, baka-oyaji!" He answered.

"Anyway Ryoma, honey, you're not allowed to join the tennis club. Your doctor said that you should avoid any physical strains." Rinko calmly said.

"But oka-san! I promise to always bring my medicine. I will not push myself too hard and also I will only do things moderately. Please allow me to join, oka-san." He asked respectfully and politely. It was quite out of character of him to plead to his mother. But he wanted to join the team so badly. He wanted his mother to allow him to play.

_Sigh! _"Oh, okay. Promise that you'll not overdo it?"

"Hai!" Ryoma said happily. He then rushed to his room and arranged his tennis racquets. He was really glad that his parents allowed him to join. He can't wait for the next day.

* * *

**AN:** That's it for now! Now, tell me what you think about it! Thank you for being patient and reading this amateur-ish fan fic. BTW, this is my first POT fic! How's this for my first time? Pretty good or boring? REVIEW ALREADY! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **Hey dear readers! How are you all? Not bored at all? haha! Thanks for reading this fic! Although I think that my idea bout this fic is not really original, I hope you all find something different.

Enjoy reading!

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**Chapter 2:**

Ryoma went to school the next morning with his tennis equipment. He was early that morning and arrived at school earlier than usual. Upon arrival inside the classroom he was greeted by Sakuno.

"Good morning, Ryoma-kun." She greeted.

"Morning." He replied. He did not notice the smile that she gave him. It was not usual that he responds nicely to her when she talks to him.

"Ryoma-kun, you brought your tennis bag! D-did you finally decide to j-join the tennis club?" asked the happy Sakuno.

"Yeah. I'm going to register later." He responded. He sat down on his seat and rested his head on the table.

"It's really nice that the music club members are required to attend club activities once a week. Although they said we could come any day we wanted. We could also choose another club to join to." said Sakuno.

"Yeah.", answered Ryoma. _She's unbelievably talkative today. _He thought as he glanced at her seat.

"Why are you talking to me anyway?" asked Ryoma. It sounded rude but truthfully, he was only curious as to why the weird girl is talking to him.

"A-ano..." she muttered. She blushed slightly because of the intense stare Ryoma is giving her.

"What?" he asked impatiently.

"Ummm…because I thought that you might want to h-have someone t-to talk to. You are always quiet a-and you don't t-talk to anyone.", she stuttered.

"Oh. So you want to be my friend?", he asked, as if it was a very normal thing to say with his expressionless face. But deep inside he was glad that someone might want to befriend him. A lot of people always avoid him because of his cold and arrogant nature. So this is a very good development for him. He might have a chance to have his very first real friend.

"I-if you don't m-mind, I would be glad to be your friend.", she said silently but loud enough for Ryoma to hear.

Ryoma gave her a small smile and said, "Thanks."

Then the classes started. As usual, Ryoma would either take a nap or stare somewhere. He rarely listens because most of it, he knows already. Sakuno looks at him worriedly because she thought that he might get in trouble if he does not pay attention to class.

Soon, the morning classes ended and it was lunch time. Ryoma was prepared to leave the room with his bento but Sakuno approached him.

"U-umm…Ryoma-kun? Would it be a-alright if we eat l-lunch together?", she asked while looking down and hiding his embarrassed face.

"I don't mind. Where are we going to eat?" Ryoma asked.

"There is a nice spot under a Sakura tree near the water fountain at the back of the school. If you like, we could go there."

"Okay. Let's go." Ryoma said and then he led the way to their destination.

There were only a few people walking around and the place was quiet. A big Sakura tree stood at one side and Ryoma went there and sat beneath it. He motioned Sakuno to seat near him. They ate in silence. Occasionally, Sakuno would ask him about his life when he was leaving in the states. Ryoma only told her about the usual things. He felt nice around Sakuno's presence and for him, she was the least annoying person he ever knew.

Throughout lunch, they did that. At one point, Ryoma fell asleep and laid on the side of the tree. Sakuno was glad that Ryoma is finally warming up to her. Ryoma was a good listenier, she discovered. Although he talked little and almost whatever he says sounds rude or emotionless, he was a good friend. Lunch was over and she woke up Ryoma. They went to the classroom and prepared for the next subjects.

After classes Ryoma went to the tennis court to register. Sakuno went to the girl's tennis team. He handed his registration form to the person in charge which was the Momoshiro.

"Finally decided to join?" asked the smiling sempai as he received the registration form from Ryoma.

"Hai." Ryoma answered.

"Want to play a match? We are having self-training today." he asked.

"Sure." Ryoma answered, silently smirking to himself. He is definitely going to defeat this guy, without a doubt.

They headed for the court. Before heading for the court, he drank his water to prevent himself from dehydrating. He then grabbed his red racquet and headed to the opposite side if where Momo (**a/n**: I'll just wright 'Momo'! His whole name is way too long. LOL) was standing. He let him serve first.

Ryoma used his right hand to play. He bounced the neon ball and then threw it in the air. He hit it and landed on the opposite court just near the line.

"15-0" the umpire called.

"That was a fast one." Momo commented.

Ryoma smirked and then served again and this time Momo was able to return it. They rallied and then Ryoma gained a point by doing a drop shot.

"30-0"

_This guy sure is something._ Momo thought as he missed the ball.

"Are you really a regular, Momoshiri-sempai?" he asked teasingly.

Momo blushed in embarrassment and shot back "Shut up, gaki! Just serve already!"

This time, Ryoma did a twist serve, still with his right hand. The ball bounced to the opposite direction and missed Momo's face only by mere inches.

"40-0"

"Oi, oi! That's a twist serve, isn't it?" he asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah. Why? Haven't seen one yet?" he asked. He gave him an amused look and prepared to serve the next ball.

By now a lot of spectators gathered around to watch their match. Most of the regulars were also watching the game.

"That freshman is good.", commented Ooishi.

"Hoi, hoi! Ochibi is amazing!" Eiji said cheerfully.

"Fshuu…cocky brat." Muttered Kaidoh as he turned away and went back to his own training.

"Saa…this freshman is interesting.", Fuji said.

"Data. That was a good serve." Inui muttered.

The match was 2-0. Echizen leads. As he walked near the base line, he suddenly felt a little bit dizzy. He decided that he should end their game soon or he could be in serious trouble. He did not want to end up in a hospital again and be pitied by a lot of people. He shifted to his left hand and prepared to serve.

_No way! He's a southpaw? _Momo thought as he saw the racquet on his left hand. He then shouted, "Time out! I forfeit!" He was amazed by the performance of the young tennis player. If he let this continue he will surely lose. He went to the middle of the court and shook hands with Ryoma. He noticed that the freshman was a little bit pale.

"You okay, Echizen? You look pale." He asked, a little bit worried.

"Worry about yourself, Momo-sempai.", Ryoma shot back with a smirk and then went to the bench to return his racquet inside his bag. He took out his medicine and drank one capsule. He was getting dizzy and his chest is starting to ache. He sat for a while and took deep breaths.

"Cocky brat.", Momo said in an amused tone as he watched the freshman go to the bench.

Tezuka, who had been watching their match, was greatly impressed. He went to the club room and decided to include Ryoma in the ranking matches that will be happening a couple of days from now. Ryuuzaki Sumire was watching the match of Ryoma and Momo from the club room. He was glad that the young lad was permitted to join their team. She knew of his condition because Nanjiroh, his old student who was his father, told her. Although she was a little bit worried for the boy, she was also thrilled to have Samurai Junior in their team.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

The ranking tournament took place a couple of days after that and Ryoma was able to grab a spot in the regulars.

He was now inside the locker room and fixing his things. The other regulars started to come in and approach him.

"Ochibi is so amazing! He beat Inui and Kaidoh!" Eiji said as he hugged the first year.

"Mada mada dane, sempai-tachi." Ryoma said as he got off Eiji's deathly hug. He went outside the room and headed towards the exit. As he walked towards the gate, he bumped into Sakuno, who running towards the gate as well. She seemed to not notice Ryoma walking close so she collided with him.

"Ah! I'm sorry Ryoma-kun!", said frantically, as she stood up and picked up her bag and tennis bag.

"Will you stop doing that?" Ryoma asked in a slightly irritated voce.

"W-what is it, Ryoma-kun?", she asked, wondering what she did to make Ryoma angry.

"You apologize too much.", he told her.

"Oh. Okay. S-sorry.", Sakuno said, her eyes tearing slightly.

At that moment, his sempai-tachi arrived and noticed the sad face of Sakuno.

"What are you doing, Echizen? Why did you make poor Sakuno-chan cry?", asked a shocked Momo.

"Yeah, yeah! Ochibi is bad! He made her cry! Uwaa!" Eiji said as he created fake anime tears.

"Baka, sempai-tachi! I did not make her cry.", Ryoma stated.

"Of course you did. Those are actual tears, right Tezuka?", said Fuji with his creepy smile. He pointed at the moisture forming beneath Sakuno's eyes.

"Hn." Tezuka muttered.

"You should not make girls cry, Echizen. Especially Sakuno-chan. Coach might kill you if she sees this.", said the worried Taka.

"A-ano…Ryoma-kun did not m-make me cry." Sakuno said silently.

"See?", asked the smirking Ryoma. "Let's go, Ryuuzaki. I'll walk you home.", he added as he grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the amused sempais.

They were already far away from the gate of the school when Ryoma finally decided to let go of Sakuno's hand. They walked in silence. Sakuno walking slightly behind Ryoma.

"Umm…R-ryoma-kun?", asked Sakuno.

"What is it", answered Ryoma.

"Wh-why are you w-walking me home?" she asked nervously. It was not like she did not want Ryoma to walk her home. She was just curious. He was acting weird because he is doing a nice thing for her.

"Because we're friends, aren't we?" Ryoma said and looked at her expectantly.

"R-right. Sorry." She muttered to herself.

"I said stop doing that.", ordered Ryoma.

"Wh-what?"

"That! You are always apologizing. It's not like you did something wrong. " said Ryoma, a bit irritated.

"O-okay.", responded the blushing Sakuno.

They arrived at continues walking to Sakuno's house in silence. And when they arrived Sakuno invited him in for a drink. He agreed and went with her inside. He sat in the living room. Sakuno reappeared holding a tray containing their drinks and some snacks.

"Thanks.", Ryoma muttered as he received his glass of orange juice.

Sakuno sat beside him and also drank her own juice. They ate in silence. Occasionally Sakuno would start small talk, and Ryoma would only answer in small sentences. It was quite awkward if it was normal people talking in this manner. But since it's Sakuno and Ryoma we are talking about, this conversation is just fine. Sakuno being nervous and blushing always when they talk and Ryoma being a dull person. Although Ryoma might not be showing it, he is really glad that there is someone who could stand talking to him. Most people often comment that when they were talking to him, it was like talking to a wall.

After a while, Ryoma returned home and said thanks for Sakuno's hospitality. He went back to his room, changed his clothes and brought out his cello. He wanted to play for a while and also practice for the individual presentation that their music club will be having this week. He played the Prelude from Bach's cello suit no. 1. He liked this piece very much. After playing he went downstairs to eat their dinner.

"How was school today, Ryoma?" asked Rinko.

"It was boring. We had a ranking match for the regular spots in tennis club. I got in because they were all weak." Ryoma answered.

"Really? That's great. But don't overexert yourself. You're feeling fine today right?"

"Yeah."

"How about your music club?"

"Ah. We'll be having individual presentation tomorrow."

"That's good. Will you bring your cello to school?"

"No need. I could borrow the one at school." , he said as he got up and went to his room. He did his homework and then practiced again the piece he is going to perform tomorrow during their club activities.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

The afternoon the next day, Ryoma did not attend the practice of the tennis club. He went to the music room with Sakuno instead. He already told the coach, Ryuuzaki-sensei, who happened to be Sakuno's grandmother, about it. She agreed but only after telling him that he should work extra hard during their next practice because the tournament is already near.

They arrived inside the music room and there were already a lot of people seated. Their club president was standing in front of them and already started checking the attendance. After the attendance is checked, Ishikawa proceeded to explain how their individual performances will work. He also said that this was also to measure their skill when it comes to playing their individual instruments.

There were a lot of students who played well with their respective instrument. Ryoma was thrilled to show them what he could do. He did not know the music club was also this fun. When his name was called, he stood up and asked for a cello from the club president since he did not bring his own. He played Bach's Prelude cello suit no. 1. It was one of his favorite and this was the piece he practiced the night before.

The members were all awed by the sound he created. Sakuno was amazed by his skill and because of this her admiration for him increased. She was also inspired to do her best in playing when her name was called.

After playing, he was given a loud round of applause. He smirked because he knew he did a great job. Ishikawa was greatly interested with the talented first year. He approached him and said.

"You did well, Echizen. How long have you been playing the cello?"

"About 6 years." he answered briefly.

"Really? You really are talented, Echizen. Why don't you participate in a music contest?" asked Ishikawa with eager eyes.

"Huh? No way." Ryoma said in a flat tone. He immediately went back to his seat and ignored Ishikawa's pleas.

After two members were called, it was Sakuno's turn. She played Moonlight Sonata first movement. Ryoma was impressed by her excellent performance. He didn't expect her to play that well. After playing, she was praised by Ishikawa and the others. After that, she went back to her seat beside Ryoma.

"That was good." Ryoma said as he faced the blushing Sakuno.

"Th-thank you. You also were amazing."

"Thanks."

After all the members finished their individual presentation, Ishikawa spoke again.

"Everyone did great. Well done. I'll be expecting you all next week. We will be planning for our performance for the school festival 3 months from now. And yes, I know that it's too early. But that will be our first performance for this year and I want it to be perfect. We will be presenting individual presentations and ensembles. So be prepared. Okay. That's all. You may go now."

The students headed for the door and exited the room. Ryoma and Sakuno walked out together. Ryoma offered to walk her home again. Although Sakuno insisted that he did not have to, Ryoma insisted because that is what friends do to each other. Sakuno blushed and she felt glad that Ryoma considered her as one of his friends. But she was also worried that she was the only one he talks to in class and he seems to have few friends. The only ones she sees him interact with are the tennis club regulars and her.

They walked towards the gate. But they were interrupted by some of the regulars, namely, Momoshiro, Eiji, Fuji and Tezuka.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

As Momo, Eiji, Fuji and Tezuka walked towards the gate of Seigaku after tennis practice, they noticed a familiar greenish-black haired freshman and a girl with long twin braids. Momo and Eiji rushed to them as soon as they saw the two. Tezuka and Fuji followed behind. Fuji was curious as to why they are going home together, while Tezuka wanted to ask why Echizen did not attend the tennis practice that afternoon.

"Ochibi! Sakuno-chan!", Eiji shouted as he gave them bone cracking hugs.

"L-let go, baka.", said Ryoma who is now turning blue.

"Hehe. Sorry, Ochibi and Sakuno-chan!", said Eiji while smiling sheepishly.

He let go of them and then Ryoma coughed for a while and held his chest. He felt a little pain when he was hugged violently by the cat-like sampai. Sakuno was stroking his back until he stopped and gave the two a deathly glare.

"What are you doing, sempai-tachi?" he asked in an irritated voice.

"C-calm down, Ryoma-kun. I-it's not good to disrespect your sempai." Sakuno scolded him a little.

"What are you two doing, huh? Going out for a date?" asked Momo, who was giving him a, what looked like to Ryoma, stupid smile. Sakuno's cheeks became tomato red at the statement. And Ryoma just looked at him in a bored manner, not understanding the word 'date'.

"We're going home, Momo-sempai. Now, get out of our way.", Ryoma answered rudely, ignoring the previous scolding of Sakuno.

Ryoma grabbed Sakuno's hand and headed for the exit but was interrupted again by the voice of the team captain.

"Why were you absent during afternoon practice, Echizen?", asked the stoic captain.

"Saa. Maybe he was spending time with Sakuno-chan here.", said Fuji who appeared from behind Tezuka.

"I was doing something. And I asked permission from the coach to be excused from afternoon practice once a week.", answered Ryoma, he is growing impatient by the minute. He really wanted to go home right away and sleep. He slowly feels a headache coming.

"I see. You must train hard next time to make up for your absence." Tezuka said in a stern voice.

"Hai!" he answered. He then dragged Sakuno towards the exit. Sakuno was still blushing from the previous statement of Fuji. She just let Ryoma pull her and silently follow him as he walks her home.

Eiji, Momo and Fuji eyed their intertwined hands slyly. Momo shouted from behind, "Go and make sure your girlfriend gets home safely, Echizen!"

"Of course.", he said loud enough for them to hear. Momo and Eiji were in shock, their jaws reaching the floor, while Fuji gave an amused smile and Tezuka still remained the same. Sakuno once again, blushed. They continued walking in silence. When they reached Sakuno's house, she thanked Ryoma and offered him to stay for a while for some drinks. Ryoma agreed and went inside.

Sakuno served him grape juice and a blueberry cheese cake. Ryoma gratefully accepted them and thanked Sakuno.

"Thanks for the snack. Those were my favorites by the way." Ryoma said as he took another bite from his cake.

"Don't mention it. Thank you again for walking me home.", said Sakuno. She was glad that her stuttering is lessening when she is around Ryoma. She was more comfortable with him now that they became good friends.

"It's nothing. I'll walk you home every day if you want.", he offered. He already considered her his closest friend and he talked more around her. And he would be glad to do favors for his close friend.

"Th-that would me unnecessary.", she said. She already troubled him a lot and she did not want to bother him anymore.

"It is. And I will do it because you are already my best friend.", Ryoma stated in-a-matter-of-fact manner.

"R-really?"

"Sure.", he said as he finished his cake. "Thanks again for the snack. I'll be going home now."

"A-alright. See you tomorrow." Ryoma nodded lightly as he jogged towards his house.

* * *

**AN: **How's that? Getting bored yet? I hope not! (laughs nervously) Review again! Thanks for reading! Love ya all!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **Hey readers and fellow writers! How's my fic so far? How you all are enjoying it! I know that I might have grammatical mistake or something, (even though I already checked it for about three times!) I hope you all look past those simple mistakes and focus on the development of the plot.

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**Chapter 3:**

Ryoma woke up early in the morning and attended the morning practice. He attended the practice. Tezuka made him run laps for being absent during their practice last week. After running, he joined the regulars in their drills. Ryoma felt well that morning and was able to keep up with the training. Normally he would exhaust quickly and would be breathing heavily after practice.

After practice, he went inside the classroom and was greeted by Sakuno.

"Good Morning, Ryoma-kun!", Sakuno said happily.

"Morning.", Ryoma answered back.

Their teacher came in late today because of some random student who threw up in the hall ways and was needed to be taken to the clinic. Turns out the poor guy ate soiled food and was having a bad stomach ache. Their teacher, Oikawa-sensei, was the only teacher around that time so she was the one who was obliged to help the poor student.

Ryoma felt disgusted by the story their teacher told them. Why would she have to tell them that stomach churning story early in the morning? She was ruining the learning atmosphere of their room. Ryoma thought the student was stupid because he did not notice that the food he ate was not really appropriate to eat.

After a while of pleading the students to be silent, the lesson finally started. She gave out the result s of the test they took last week. She called them one by one.

"Echizen. Good work you only got three mistakes." Oikawa said. The rest of the class looked at Ryoma in awe. Who knew that that the quiet guy who never talks to anybody except, maybe Sakuno, was so good in math. Sakuno was amazed that Ryoma got a very high score although most of them found it hard.

"Che. Not good.", Ryoma muttered as he received his test score in math. Although math was not his best subject, he still expected to have a higher score because he knew all of them already. His tutor from before already taught him this topic. He made stupid errors on some of the numbers. He should have gotten a perfect score if not for those careless mistakes.

"Ryoma-kun, you're so smart! You got the highest score in the class.", said Sakuno who only got 80 percent of the test.

"Not really. I made stupid mistakes and ended up getting the wrong answer.", he replied in a slightly disappointed tone.

"That's okay. Just don't be careless next time.", Sakuno said in a comforting tone, although she was not sure if she should be the one who does the comforting instead of him. She was already satisfied with her score although it was lower than him.

"Right. Thanks. You also did well, by the way. Considering you are not so good with numbers.", Ryoma said teasingly.

"Mou!", Sakuno exclaimed. She was blushing because of what Ryoma said. It was true that she was not that good at numbers but she wanted to have a good grade in this subject, so she worked hard on studying.

~~~~hohohohohoho~~~~

After that morning classes, Ryoma and Sakuno headed out to their usual spot at the back of the school, under the Sakura tree. They ate their lunch there. Sakuno brought an extra food for Ryoma. She gave him a chocolate cake. Ryoma gratefully accepted the dessert and asked her to join him in eating the cake.

"Thanks for the cake.", he said as he motioned Sakuno to eat as well.

"Ah. It's nothing. I just want to thank Ryoma-kun for walking me home these past few days.", Sakuno said.

"Don't mention it. Anyway, this cake is really delicious."

"R-really? I-I made that last night. I noticed that you are fond of eating sweets so I made one."

"Yeah. I do like sweets. Although I am not allowed to eat so much of them."

"Why not?"

"Because it is bad for my health. My blood sugar might go up if I eat too many sweets."

"O-oh. Is it fine for you to eat this then?"

"Yeah. I've been well these past few days so I guess it's okay."

"Umm… if you don't mind me asking, do you have some kind of sickness, Ryoma-kun? You seem to be mindful about your health."

Ryoma looked at Sakuno for a while, considering if he should share his situation with someone. He was scared that she might pity him if she heard of his sickness. But he thought he already considered Sakuno as his best friend, so there is no harm in telling her since he trusts her.

"I do.", he said in a slightly depressed tone. He really doesn't like talking about this.

"Oh. I'm sorry for asking.", she said in a worried tone. She noticed his sad tone and thought that maybe she offended him or something.

"No. It's okay. I want to tell you anyway.", he said. He took a deep breath before talking again.

"You see, I was born with a weak heart. I always was inside a hospital room when I was younger. I never went to a normal school until this year. When I was in America, it was either I was in the hospital or at home. Oyaji would teach me tennis when my health permits it. He said that I was pretty good at it so I felt happy. I trained hard to be a good player when I have the chance. During my sick days, my mom would bring to me my cello and listen to me play. And recently, my doctor said that my health is getting better because my medications are taking effect. That's why Oka-san decided to move back here in Japan. She wanted me to attend a normal school and to have a normal life. Oyaji also said that I might improve my tennis here."

"Oh. I'm glad that you are getting better already Ryoma-kun. Do your best!", Sakuno said happily. She was surprised that Ryoma has a serious illness. She was worried for him.

"Thanks. You are the first person I ever told about his, you know?", Ryoma said, a bit embarrassed because he acted a bit weak in front of Sakuno.

"Don't worry about it. Thanks for telling me about it.", she answered, giving him a kind smile.

Somehow, Ryoma felt relieved that Sakuno did not react negatively about what he said. He was somehow happy that she understood. It was also nice that some people know about your situation. It made him feel better. It was also nice to hear that she would be supporting him from behind. He was lucky to have a very understanding and kind friend to talk to.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

The bell soon rang and they went back to their classroom. It was now English subject. The strict teacher, who was named Honda-sensei entered the room and ordered silence from the body. He announced that they will be having a pop quiz today. Everyone gasped in surprise, except Ryoma. The teacher smirked evilly and started to distribute the test papers.

Ryoma eyed the questionnaire given and sighed. _This will be a piece of cake. I could answer this with my eyes closed._ He finished the test in 5 minutes. The rest of the class was having a hard time. It was almost as if they didn't know what to wright. He noticed that Sakuno was also having a hard time answering. He just wished her good luck in his mind. It was not like he could help her during the test.

Honda-sensei collected the paper after tem minutes. He immediately checked the papers. After checking all the papers, he gave back their paper.

"I'm sorry to say that many of you got low in the test. Why don't you study more seriously?", he asked mockingly.

"One of you got a perfect score though. You should learn from him. Here you go Echizen-kun.", he said as he gave Ryoma his paper. For the second time that day, Ryoma's classmates stared at him in awe. Ryoma walked towards the teacher and received his paper and went back to his seat as if he did not just get a perfect score in an English pop quiz.

"Wow, Ryoma-kun. You're the highest again.", commented Sakuno.

"No big deal.", he muttered. He kept the piece of paper and gazed outside the window. Honda-sensei was now teaching. Ryome found it boring since he knew all of it already. He wanted to take a nap but he might be punished by the teacher so he resisted and just settled in staring into space. Luckily, the teacher did not notice him not paying attention during his discussion. Sakuno was constantly giving him worried glances because she noticed that he was not paying attention or taking down notes.

The class finished and they stretched for a little. They felt stiff after the class with Honda-sensei because he wants everyone in class to face front and seat straight. He notices them whenever they move so the class almost did not move for almost an hour.

The rest of the afternoon passed slowly. And when the bell rang, Ryoma quickly gathered his things and prepared to go to the tennis court. But then he remembered that Sakuno is assigned to clean for today. He decided to wait for her so that they could go to the courts together. The courts of the girl's team are right next to the one the boy's team use.

He watched as Sakuno cleans the black board and throws away the trash. He could not help but think aloud, "Why is she so slow?". Sakuno heard this and quickly glanced at Ryoma who was standing by the door, waiting for her. She blushed a little but then said, "Why are you here? And if you are being impatient, why don't you try and help me do these cleaning so that it would be done more quickly?"

Ryoma smirked and said, "Sure. Because I am such a good friend I will help you do **your **job in cleaning this filthy classroom." , giving emphasis on the word 'your'.

Sakuno resisted the urge to roll her eyes and said, "Yeah. Do that so that we could get out of here."

The cleaning of the classroom was finished earlier with the help of Ryoma. They walked briskly to the tennis courts. As they were getting near, Ryoma noticed that the practice is already starting and Tezuka was standing outside and looked sternly at his approaching figure. Ryoma knew that he will be running laps because of his tardiness no matter what valid excuse he may have.

"Oh, man! You got me late for practice. Now I'll surely run laps till my feet bleeds." Ryoma stated sarcastically.

"Well, sorry for holding you up, **best friend**. Who asked you to wait for me anyway?", Sakuno answered.

"Oh, and I suppose I should receive a thank you for helping you do your chores, right?", he said teasingly.

"R-right…thanks. Hehe.", Sakuno said as she laughed lightly. She felt happy talking to Ryoma like this. They are talking like real close friends.

"Don't mention it, Ryuuzaki. See you later.", he said as he rushed towards the club room to change clothes.

Sakuno also walked faster to the other court.

"Your late, Echizen.", said Tezuka as Ryoma approached him.

"I helped clean the classroom.", he stated calmly.

"Hn. Now run 10 laps. After that join the other regulars."

"Hai.", Ryoma said as he proceeded to run his laps.

After running, he went inside the court and joined the other regulars, who are all gathered in front of coach Ryuuzaki and Inui, who became their trainer. As he neared them, Eiji nearly crushed his bones as he gave him a hug.

"Waaa! Ochibi is late!", he said energetically.

"Let go of him, Eiji. He is turning blue.", Oishi said, transforming into his mother hen self. Eiji quickly let go of the quietly struggling freshman regular and said sorry. Ryoma coughed a little and then regained his composure. He sent his sempai a menacing glare and muttered a threat to himself. "I am going to seriously injure you someday, Kikumaru-sempai" The other regulars sensed the evil intent oozing out of his body. Fuji showed a sadistic smile, muttering something about amusing little children and their amusing childish threats.

Tezuka interrupted the ruckus and ordered them to pay attention.

"Now. The district tournament is slowly approaching. We should step up our training. Our aim this year is the nationals. To do this, all of you should work hard on your training and don't slack off.", Coach Ryuuzaki said to them.

Inui introduced a new training regimen for them and also said that whoever who fails to do the task will be given his Super-Ultra-Delicious-You're-Gonna-Die-Inui Juice. He showed to them the blackish, brownish, greenish substance that was inside a nice wine glass. All regulars paled, with the exception of Fuji, who was muttering something about wanting to try it out the new flavor of Inui Juice, and Tezuka, who remained his stoic self.

The training was to hit a colored ball in their corresponding colored cones. The colors of the tennis balls and cones are red, blue, yellow and green. But not just as simple as that, after 10 tennis balls is returned, another ball will be served making it two at a time. They are required to return the colored ball to the cone with the same color 20 times. After that they will be saved from drinking the punishment.

The first one to do the drill was Kaido and Momo. They were in different courts, of course. Inui and Sumire were the ones serving. They took their position on the opposite side and prepared for the incoming ball.

Both returned the first ten balls to their corresponding cones correctly but when a second ball was added, Momo immediately got it wrong. He hit it on the wrong cone so he was punished. Not long after, Kaidoh also made a mistake. He let one of the balls pass him. They drank the punishment and immediately, as soon as they took the first gulp, they went unconscious, failing to run for the water taps and wash away the disgusting taste of the so-called juice.

The bodies were dragged to the side of the courts. The other regulars gulped, seeing the pitiful scene made by the both second years unconscious on the floor. The next pair was called. It was Eiji and Ryoma. They went to the court and prepared for the ball.

Ryoma found it easy to distinguish the color of the ball because of his very good eyesight. He returned all of the tennis balls back to the right cone. Although he had a hard time when there were two at a time. He almost missed some of them, luckily he knew how to use the split step, so he was able to catch up to them and hit it back correctly.

Eiji, having excellent eyesight as well, hits the balls easily. When two tennis balls were hit, he was challenged but he still was able to manage to hit it back. It was the last 2 and he was able to hit the second to the last, but was unable to hit the last one because he thought that the last one he hit was the last one. (A/N : Get it? Hehe…kidding. :D) Inui approached him and gave him the accursed drink. Eiji immediately ran to the fountains but was unable to reach it because the extraordinary power of the drink overpowered him.

Taka and Oishii were the next called. Taka was able to hit the first set but was unable to return the rest when a second ball was added. He also went unconscious as soon as he took the first sip. Oishii was able to return all of the shots but he made a mistake and returned the ball to the wrong cone. He ended up unconscious after tasting the accursed juice that Inui made.

Tezuka and Fuji were the last ones to do the drill. As expected, the captain did not miss a ball and finished the drill quickly. Fuji easily returned all the shots but intentionally missed the last ball. He told Inui that he wanted to taste the new flavor of his new drink. He drank the slimy looking beverage in one gulp.

"This one is good, Inui. I recommend this. Everyone should try it as well. Why don't you try, Echizen and Tezuka.", he asked in a sweet tone.

"No thanks.", said Tezuka giving off a slightly disgusted look.

"I'll pass.", Ryoma immediately said as he took a step back.

After about 10 minutes of break, the rest of the regulars recovered. They stood up but they still felt a bit of stomach ache from the juice. The training continued. They practiced doubles. Momo and Echizen were paired up for the first practice game.

"Why do I have to play doubles?", Ryoma complained.

"Ochibi! Playing doubles is great! You should try it too!", said the jumping Eiji. Oishi came and tried to calm him down.

"And why do I have to be paired up with this baka?", he said in an insulting voice, while pointing his index finger towards the standing Momo.

"Why you-!". Momo exclaimed as he gave Ryoma a head lock.

"Seize!", Tezuka ordered. "Stop goofing around and go on with the practice match. Or do you want to drink Inui's juice?", he threatened.

The four of them hurriedly went to the court and started the game. Ryoma really sucks at playing doubles. He chases after every ball that goes to their side of the court and would occasionally collide with Momo, who complained about him taking all the shots. In the end, they lost miserably.

"That was a terrible game, Echizen!", Momo exclaimed as he drank his water.

"I never played doubles before. How do you expect me to be good at it?", he said sarcastically.

"What! Ochibi never played doubles before? What a pity!", shouted Eiji as he ruffled the hair of the shorter boy.

"Stop it.", Ryoma said in a monotonous tone.

Eiji stopped bothering Ryoma and went to Oishi to complain about Ryoma being mean to him. Oishi sweatdropped and gave Ryoma an apologetic smile. Ryome just shrugged it off and stared at the ongoing game of the rest of them.

The practice ended quickly because Tezuka dismissed them earlier. When they finished changing, Momo and Eiji approached Ryoma.

"Ne, Ochibi! Want to go eat burgers with us.", Eiji said with a lot of enthusiasm.

"Yeah, Echizen. You should also hang out with your sempai. Eiji-sempai here will treat us.", Momo said.

"What? No fair!", complained the acrobatic player.

"Sempais should treat their Kohais right?", Momo said, giving Eiji a sly smile.

"Fine. But next time, you should be the one.", said Eiji while giving him a pout.

"Now that that's settled. What do you say, Echizen?", asked Momo.

"Can't.", he said briefly as he exited the locker room and headed for the gate. Although he wanted to go with them, he still refused because he told Sakuno that he would walk her home today as well.

"But why?", whined Eiji.

Ryoma ignored them and just headed for the gate. When he saw Sakuno, he waved at her a little and walked falser.

"Hey.", Ryoma said as he was in front of her.

"Hi, Ryoma-kun.", said Sakuno happily.

"So this is why you declined our generous offer of treating you to hamburgers today?", said the Momo, with a sly smile.

"Ochibi is going to have a date with Sakuno-chan! But you are so young!", Eiji whined.

"Ignore them, Ryuuzaki. Let's go home.", Ryoma said as he grabbed her hand and started to walk.

"But Ryoma-kun, you should go with Momo-sempai and Eiji-sempai. They said that they will treat you right? Let me guess. Although you secretly want to go with them, you declined because you were supposed to walk me home, right?", asked Sakuno.

"Precisely."

"I could go home by myself, you know. You could go with them if you want.", said Sakuno.

Upon hearing this, Momo and Eiji's hope raised. They really wanted to hang out with the freshman rookie.

"Well…I guess I could go with you today, sempai. Since this girl just rejected my offer of walking her home, I have no choice but to accept your treat. How mean.", he said teasingly.

"Sh-shut up! No one said you should walk me home. I'm leaving.", Sakuno said as he walked away, blushing in embarrassment.

"Yay! Ochibi could go with us now!", Eiji exclaimed happily.

"Great! Now off we go!", Momo said as they marched towards the nearest fast food chain.

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**AN:** Hey! Please leave reviews! You don't want to make me beg! haha! Just kidding! Hope you are not yet getting tired of reading this... you know? cuz you think it's boring. (I hope not! :(( ) Click the review button and tell me what you think!


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: **Hello again! Just to remind you all, I reposted this entire fic! Crazy, huh? Hehe. So I've been typing random things here at my corner! haha! Just kidding! I hope you REALLY enjoy this fic! (I'll never get tired of saying that!) Read away! XD

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**Chapter 4:**

Ryoma almost puked at the amount of burgers they ate the other day. Honestly, what type of person would eat 10 burgers in one seating. That Momo has a really big stomach to be able to squeeze in that amount of food all at once. Ryoma, himself only ate four because he was challenged by Momo to an eating contest. He ended up consuming only four. Oh, his poor stomach… He will never eat that amount of greasy food every again. Those kinds of foods shorten your lifespan.

That night, Ryoma was not able to sleep peacefully because his stomach would ache in the middle of the night or he would feel the urge to use the toilet. He swore that he would never go out to eat burgers with his sempais ever again. Or at least not in a long while. He tends to eat a lot with them. Although it was free, it was not really worth the trouble it caused afterwards.

Ryoma sighed as he recalled the events two days ago. Currently he is waiting for the last bell to ring, signaling the end of their class and the start of club activities. He stared at the clock. Ten more minutes.

He stared at his seatmate, Sakuno, who was still listening to the lesson of the teacher. He sometimes wonders how she manages to stay awake during class hours even though the teacher was really boring. He watches as Sakuno takes down notes about the topic discussed. He then glances at the clock. Two more minutes.

The teacher now announces the last reminders and informs them that they will be having a long quiz about the last two topics they discussed. Finally, the bell rang and Ryoma quickly fixed his things and prepared to head out of the room. He waited for Sakuno to finish fixing her things since she, too will go to the tennis courts.

After that, they walked briskly towards the tennis courts and separated ways as Sakuno headed for the girls' team while Ryoma went to the locker room to change his clothes. He quickly changed, grabbed a racquet and went out. He joined his fellow regular members as they did warm ups.

Tezuka finally entered the court with Sumire and Inui. He announced that they will be running laps today and asked Inui to tell them about the rules. There will be a specific time limit per lap and whoever exceeds will have to drink the Penal Tea. Right at that moment Inui showed the entire tennis team a mug of red liquid that emitted purplish-grey smoke. Everyone gulped and sweated rapidly.

Everyone took their position and waited for the signal whistle. When they heard it, everyone started running quickly. After almost 15 laps, almost everyone fell victim to the disgusting and very spicy taste of Penal Tea, since the time limit is constantly shortened with every lap they run. All the regulars were the only ones left running. Inui announced that the time limit for the final lap should be only 60 seconds and that whoever was the last one must drink a whole pitcher of the drink. Everyone wildly ran. Eiji jumped and took the lead but then both Momo and Kaidoh sprinted faster not wanting to lose from each other. Ryoma took a racquet lying at the side of the court and handed it to Taka.

"BURNING! GET OUT OF THE WAY!", he shouted as he passed through everyone, with Ryoma following him closely behind.

"Whoa! Echizen that's cheating!", shouted Momo.

"Che! Mada mada dane, sempai.", he answered back giving him an evil smirk

It was the final turn and everyone saw that Ryoma was leading, but the rest were at his back. In the end, all of them finished the lap at the same time. Since it was a tie no one was required to drink the Penal Tea.

Just when they thought that they were taking a break after the tiring run, coach Ryuuzaki came and told them that they will be having a practice match.

"Ryoma and Fuji! Go to the court and do a practice match. Let's test how well your stamina is.", she said as she watched the two take their positions on the court.

"One set match, Echizen to serve.", Tezuka, who was acting as an umpire, called.

Ryoma, although panting slowly, bounced the neon ball with his left hand and did a twist serve. Fuji was able to return it back easily. Ryoma tried doing a drop shot but it was returned with a lob. He ran back and did a smash but the shot was nullified by Fuji's Higuma Otoshi. The ball went all the way back near the base line. Ryoma was not able to return it.

"It seems like you are able to return any kind of smashes with that technique of yours.", commented an amused Ryoma. He was thrilled to play with a strong guy like Fuji. He truly lives up to his sadistic tensai reputation.

Fuji kept on giving Ryoma chance ball, and Ryoma continuously smashes them back. Unfortunately, it was all returned by his Higuma Otoshi. The game count was 3-4 and Fuji was leading. He still was not able to defeat Fuji's technique. He felt very thrilled and he wanted badly to defeat that technique of his.

It was Ryoma's turn to serve again. But suddenly, he feels a sharp pain in his chest slowly increasing and he feels a bit short of breath. He ignores it because still he wanted to play. A bad choice, he will realize in the end. He took a deep breath and did a twist serve. It scored. He then prepared to serve again, all the while feeling the pain in his chest increasing. He clutches his chest momentarily, shuts his eye a bit, and then breathes deeply. Fuji notices this and frowns a little. Ryoma serves and Fuji returned it with a lob. Ryoma smashes it and the ball hits the top of the net. When Fuji returned it with Higuma Otoshi, it went outside. Ryoma smirked as he landed on the ground. He defeated Higuma Otoshi.

Suddenly, the pain in his chest increased tenfold. He gasped in pain and clutched his chest. He dropped his racquet and fell to his knees still holding on to his chest. He breathes heavily and notices that everyone else came rushing at him.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

When Fuji saw Ryoma clutch his chest with a pained expression, he knew right away that something was wrong. He watches as Ryoma breathes deeply before bouncing the ball and doing a twist serve. He returned it with a lob and Ryoma smashes it. He did a Higuma Otoshi and it landed outside. But instead of hearing an arrogant comment from the lad, he hears a gasp from his direction. He sees Ryoma on his knees with a very painful expression. He seems to be clutching his heart and seems to be having a difficulty in breathing.

"Echizen!", the rest of the regulars shouted as they saw Ryoma fall to the ground, clutching his hurting chest.

As they saw this, they immediately rushed to the fallen player.

"Echizen are you alright?", asked the worried Momo.

"Isn't it obvious, baka? Why don't you shut up and think of something to help with the situation?", said Kaidoh, a bit irritated because of the loud voice of his rival.

"T-Teme…", Momo glared at Kaidoh.

"Would you two stop it? We need to take Echizen to the infirmary.", said the very worried Oishi.

"Uwaaa! Is Ochibi in pain? Oh no! It's because of Inui's very exhausting training!", said the teary eyed Eiji.

"Echizen is supposed to be able to withstand this kind of training. There is only 5.79% chance that this would happen.", Inui explained as he rechecked his data book, looking for any possible mistakes.

"Everyone, calm down.", said the very worried Taka.

"Saa…Taka is right.", said Fuji, who was also worried about his opponent. He was really enjoying their game just now, but even though he noticed that Ryoma was already pale during their game, he still continued and was not able to prevent this from happening.

"The rest of the team, go back to your training. We'll take care of this matter.", ordered Tezuka, who noticed the slowly increasing crowd around Ryoma.

Sumire panicked a little when she saw Ryoma fall down and clutch his chest. She never expected Ryoma to have an attack toady. She calmed down for a little and went to his bag to get him his medicine. She found a bottle filled with white pills. She took it and brought it to Ryoma.

"I-it h-hurts…", Ryoma silently said as he caught sight of his coach ,whom he mistook for his mother, approach him. He looked at Sumire with pained eyes as if pleading to her to make the pain go away. Coach Ryuuzaki immediately placed a tablet inside his mouth and let him drink from a jug. The medicine seemed to be only doing a little job in helping him get better. He ordered Momo to carry him to the infirmary while she calls Ryoma's parents. Momo immediately agreed and carried the boy towards the infirmary. The rest of the regulars followed, feeling worried at the youngest regular. The rest of the tennis club were also worried but just decided to return to their own practices in fear that they might be punished because of slacking off.

Momo let the Ryoma lie down on the bed. The nurse was not around so they could just hope that help would arrive soon. He hears Ryoma's silent pained grunts. Ryoma still seemed to be in pain as he turns in his bed and still clutching his chest. He seemed to be out of breath and was breathing heavily.

"What do you think happened to Echizen?", he said in a panicked voice as he helplessly watched his kohai.

"We don't know that yet.", said the calm Tezuka. "Why don't you go get warm water and a towel? Echizen seems to be having a fever right now.", he added as he felt Ryoma's warm forehead.

Momo immediately grabbed a towel and got warm water. He gave it to Oishi who was stroking the back of Ryoma.

"I-itai…", they hear him say. They are now really worried. Aside from the mysterious pain in his chest, he is also running a fever.

Oishi immediately placed the wet towel on top on Ryoma's forehead. Ryoma grabs the towel and takes it away. Even though he is already sick, he still acts stubborn. He did not want anyone to take care of him.

At that moment, Sumire enters the room with Ryoma's mother, Rinko. She rushed to his son and felt his hot temperature. She grabbed the hot towel and placed it on top of his forehead. Ryoma sees his mother and quietly said as he clutched his chest painfully, his eyes slightly teary, "Oka-san, make it go away. It hurts." It sounded like a little boy pleading to his mother.

"I know, dear. Now drink your medicine so that you'll feel all better.", she said as she took out a bunch of bottles from her bag. The eyes of the regulars widened as they saw the amount of medicines that Ryoma's mother brought out.

Ryoma drank all of them and slowly, the pain goes away. He is now breathing evenly, although he still has a fever.

"Didn't I tell you not to overdo it. Do you want me to forbid you in playing tennis again?", Rinko asked worriedly. The regulars were surprised to hear this. Surely they didn't want their young rookie out of the team. But they were also worried about his health.

"No. I won't overdo it again. Please don't forbid me.", he pleaded.

"Okay. But promise me to really take it easy this time."

"Hai, Oka-san.", Ryoma said as he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

Rinko sighed in relief. She stroked Ryoma's hair and faced his teammates who were watching the whole scene all the while.

"I'm sorry for troubling you, Coach Ryuuzaki.", she bowed to the old lady in front.

"Not at all. I was worried about Ryoma as well. I didn't expect him to have an attack since you said that he is getting better."

"Yes. I didn't expect it as well. I'll just leave his medicines to you. Force him to drink that when he wakes up. I need to return home now.", she said as she gave coach Ryuuzaki the pouch containing Ryoma's medicine. "Thank you as well for helping my son.", Rinko said as she turned towards the regulars.

"It was nothing.", they said. Rinko gave them a kind smile before heading out.

"What's wrong with Echizen, coach?", Momo asked in a worried tone.

"I think it would be better if Ryoma will be the one to tell. I'm not in the position to tell you anything. Besides, he might not like it if I told you.", Sumire said as she watched the resting boy.

"Momo, Kaidoh, go get his things. And Tezuka, dismiss the team early. I need to talk to you all about this."

Momo and Kaidoh returned to the court and got Ryoma's tennis bag. Then they retrieved his clothes from the locker room. Tezuka went back to the court and dismissed the team, saying that Sumire has a meeting with the regulars. The rest of the regulars went to the locker room and changed back to their school uniform. After that they went back to the infirmary.

Ryoma was still sleeping peacefully and they noticed that Sakuno was also there standing at one corner, looking at his sleeping form with a sad expression. Coach Ryuuzaki was seated at one side of the bed. She asked the regulars to go near them. They obliged.

"Coach, will Ochibi be okay?", asked the gloomy acrobatic player.

"Yeah. He just needs to rest. Nothing to worry about.", responded Coach Ryuuzaki.

"That was so scary! Echizen suddenly fell down and he seemed to have a very pained expression too.", said Momo in a not so very quiet voice.

"Shut up, Baka. You're too loud. Fshhhh..", said Kaidoh.

"What did you say, Mamushi?", said the pissed powerhouse.

"Calm down you two. You might wake Echizen.", said Oishi.

"Too late, Oishi-sempai. I'm already awake. Thanks to those two.", Ryoma said as he sat back up. His face was still red due to his slight fever and his eyes were half closed. He looks really tired.

"How are you feeling, Echizen?", asked the worried Taka.

"Fine.", Ryoma answered.

"Ryoma, now that you're awake, you should drink these. Your mom told me to make you drink these as soon as you wake up.", Sumire said.

"What? Not those disgusting stuff again!", complained Ryoma with his tired voice.

"Saa…Echizen, you should drink that. We don't want you getting sick.", said Fuji.

"Whatever.", he said as he turned to the other side of the room, averting his eyes from the rest of them.

"Ryoma-kun, you should drink them. You'll get better if you do.", Sakuno said silently.

Ryoma was surprised that she was also there, but he just shrugged it off. He stared at her and then looked outside again. "No, I won't.", he said in a slightly depressed tone. The rest of them were shocked to see that Ryoma is acting this way. It was really not the kind of brat they got used to.

"You should rest, Echizen. And you should not attend the practice tomorrow just to make sure you will perfectly recover.", said Tezuka.

"You're not taking me off the team now, right?", Ryoma asked as he looked back to Tezuka.

"Of course not.", he said. "Be careful and don't let your guard down.", he added.

Ryoma smirked a little and grabbed the medicines. He took a deep breath and drank two tablets at a time. After drinking all of them, he made a bitter face and coughed a little. Sumire reached out and attempted to stroke his back. But Ryoma pushed it away. He didn't want to be pitied and he told himself that he could take care of himself.

Sumire sighed and said, "Why don't you go home now and rest. Sakuno, accompany him to his house. And return these for me." She grabbed the pouch with the medicine and handed them to Sakuno.

"Hai, Oba-chan.", said Sakuno.

Ryoma tried to stand up. He stumbled a little but regained his balance as Momo held him still. He slapped away his hands. He grabbed all his belongings and headed for the door with Sakuno following him silently. Momo watched the seemingly depressed freshman leave the infirmary. He couldn't help but be curious as to what the real situation Ryoma is in.

"Coach Ryuuzaki, what happened to Ryoma today? He doesn't seem to be acting normal.", he asked.

"Maybe it's just fatigue. Now all of you go home and I'll be expecting you tomorrow for morning practices.", Sumire answered.

"Hai.", they said as they exited the infirmary one by one.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

Sakuno followed Ryoma silently as they walked slowly towards his house. Ryoma was not really talking a lot. Sakuno is really worried about her friend. When she heard that Ryoma collapsed a while ago, she immediately went to the infirmary to see if he was fine. Although he was now somehow feeling better, he was too quiet.

Finally, they arrived inside the Echizen residence. Ryoma invited her to come inside. She accepted and waited inside the living room. Rinko came from the kitchen holding a tray of snacks and some tea.

Ryoma silently went to his room without both the girls noticing. He brought out his cello and played for a while. He really likes playing the cello at a time like this. It makes him calm down and it somehow gives him peace of mind. He ignored everything around him and just intoxicated himself with the beautiful sound.

From the living room, Sakuno and Rinko heard Ryoma playing his instrument. Sakuno was impressed that Ryoma was able to produce such a beautiful sound.

"Does Ryoma play the cello frequently, Echizen-san?", she suddenly asked Rinko.

"Please call me, Rinko, Sakuno-chan. And no, Ryoma seldom plays his cello recently. But I know that he often plays it whenever he is sad, depressed or if he has something to think about.", she answered.

"Oh… I see. Will he mind if I go to his room, Rinko-san?", she asked.

"No. I don't think he will mind that at all.", Rinko said with a kind and encouraging smile. Sakuno nodded before walking towards Ryoma's room upstairs. She slowly opened the doors and sees the back of Ryoma seated on a chair while playing the cello.

"I didn't know you play that well, Ryoma-kun.", she said silently. Ryoma was surprised to hear someone inside his room. He turned his head sideways to look at Sakuno. His face a little flushed in embarrassment.

"It's nothing. Thanks.", he said as he turned away from her, trying to hide his blushing face. He was still embarrassed that someone heard him play during rare times like these. But somehow, after playing the cello, he felt better. Although slightly disappointed in himself, he just said to himself that there are people who would not turn their back from him and would always support him.

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**AN: **So how's the story so far? A bit of drama included. (If you call that little scene drama. haha. kidding again!) Anyway, I'm trying my best to keep the story interesting in all of the chapters! So I would really appreciate it if you review right about... NOW! haha!


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: ** Can you imagine it? I actually managed to write 5 Chapters! haha! Just for the knowledge of those who hadn't read this fic before, (cuz I originally posted this earlier this year... February, I think.) I already finished the plot. I already planned all the important parts. So, I guarantee you that this fic will not be abandoned! Anyway, why don't you read the chapter, instead of reading about the nonsense (not) that I wrote here! haha! Enjoy! And Review while you're at it!

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**Chapter 5:**

The next morning, Ryoma did not attend the tennis practice so he just went straight to the classroom, which was almost empty, except for the few people who usually come very early in the morning. Ryoma arrived earlier than usual and just decided to take a nap since there is nothing else better to do.

After a few more minutes, Sakuno finally arrived. She brought an extra bentou today and wanted to give it to Ryoma as a thank you gift for letting her eat dinner at their house yesterday and walking her home again. She approached her seat beside Ryoma and noticed that the boy was napping. She giggled silently to herself, watching the funny expression he makes while sleeping.

The morning came and went quickly. There was no quiz or special announcement. The day was just plain boring and Ryoma felt tired just thinking about how boring this day could be since there will be no tennis practice to look forward to. It was lunch time and he decided to go to the Sakura tree, where he usually eats with Sakuno.

He did not feel like eating lunch today, so he just laid down under the huge tree and took a nap. Sakuno was not there with him because she was doing an errand for the teacher. Their English teacher asked her to return some of the books to the library. He sighed quietly and thought of the happenings the other day. He remembered the looks from his team mates. He thought that they were looking at him with pity. But in reality, they were only worried about him. Him, being the dense person that he is, misinterpreted their reactions and thought that they were just looking at him with pitiful eyes. He wouldn't be surprised if they would be mocking him right now, thinking that he was such a show off even when he is really a weak boy.

While he was thinking, Sakuno arrived carrying two bento boxes. Ryoma didn't notice her approach as he was still preoccupied with his dark thoughts. Sakuno lightly patted his shoulders and Ryoma gave her a bored look.

"What?" Ryoma asked in a bored tone, closing his eyes and leaning against the tree.

"I brought lunch… As thanks for the dinner yesterday." Sakuno responded happily.

Ryoma looked at the lunch offered to him. Although he did not want to eat today, he could not resist the delicious looking food served in front of him. He reluctantly reached for it and muttered a "Thanks." to the smiling Sakuno.

They ate in silence and Sakuno tried to make Ryoma talk but, he is unusually more silent today. Although he does not really talk much, this silent treatment is really weird. Sakuno sighed and thought of something. She seemed to notice that Ryoma is really bored today. She remembered looking at his bored expression throughout the day. Then a thought came into her mind.

"Do you want to go to the music club today?" she asked suddenly.

Ryoma looked at her dumbly. Why would he want to go to the music club? Their club president specifically told them that they are not required to attend every day, but also said that they may come to their club room if ever they have the time. Since he did not have tennis practice in the afternoon, he would be having the rest of the day free. He certainly did not want to go home earlier and just be pestered by his annoying father. Finally, he decided that going to the music club was not such a bad idea.

"Sure… I don't mind." He said in a monotonous tone.

Sakuno smiled brightly at that. "I could go with you if you want." She offered.

"No need. You'll miss tennis practice."

"I don't mind."

"No. You should attend practice. You suck, so you should practice more.", he lightly teased.

Sakuno pouted a little. "Mou~. I don't suck that much."

"But you do suck." he said, smirking.

"Fine." She finally gave up.

"The bell will ring soon. Let's go back." Ryoma said as he stood up and walked towards the building, Sakuno slowly following him.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

Ryoma sat at the back of the music room, staring at the loud mouthed president of the music club. The moment he entered the room, about 10 minutes ago, Ishikawa has been bugging him to be the representative for a competition that they would be participating. Although Ryoma bluntly rejected him, the guy was so persistent. He has been talking non-stop since he entered the club room and Ryoma was thinking that maybe going to the music club on this boring day was not a really great idea. He mentally accused Sakuno, who is not here, for getting him into this bothersome situation.

Ryoma loudly sighed and decided to talk, "Ishikawa-sempai, could you please shut up? That annoying voice of yours makes me dizzy."

"Wha-!" Ishikawa exclaimed. He then looked at Ryoma with a fake sad expression.

"But Ryoma-sama! You should definitely join that contest! We will surely win it if you participate!" he whined.

Ryoma raised his brows and looked at the loud president in the eye, giving him an annoyed look.

"No way." He said. He went to the back of the room and decided to just nap for a while before going home.

Ishikawa sighed loudly and looked at Ryoma's retreating form. He will surely not give up in persuading the stubborn first year to join the contest.

_Sigh!_ "Why don't you play a song with me, Echizen-kun." He asked. Maybe playing a song could change his mind?

Ryoma, after much thought, just shrugged and nodded. He did not want to be doing nothing till it gets a bit later. He might as well play something.

"So what song?" Ryoma asked after getting the school owned cello from the glass cabinet at the back of the room.

"Secret!" Ishikawa said in a teasing voice, pointing his index finger out to Ryoma and doing a ridiculously idiotic and stupid looking pose.

A vein popped on Ryoma's head and he glared at the idiot looking senior.

"Are we playing or what?" he asked threateningly, pointing the end of the bow of his borrowed cello at his stupid sempai.

"Hehe! Just kidding! The song we will play is Secrets by One Republic." He said giving Ryoma a full grin.

Ryoma rolled his eyes and proceeded to read the music sheet that Ishikawa gave him. He was familiar with the song. And he was surprised that their seemingly idiot president knows an English song. He just shrugged it off and seated at his side after familiarizing with the notes.

"Ready?" asked Ishikawa, while holding his violin in place.

"Yeah…" Ryoma muttered.

Then they started the duet. It a pretty simple piece for Ryoma. And the sound was nice. Some of the other members were starting to hum along the song they were playing. It was a pretty good experience, Ryoma thought. He never played like this before. His audience before were only his parents. It felt nice listening to the voices harmonize with the sound of the violin and the cello. Hearing the sound of violin sing along with the tone of the cello felt new to him. He had always been playing solo pieces and sometimes he would play with the piano played by his mother.

After finishing the piece, a round of applause was given to them by their fellow club mates. Ishikawa bowed gracefully and thanked everyone, acting like he just finished a wonderful concert. Ryoma just went back to seating on one of the desks after returning the borrowed instrument to its original place. Some of the members approached him to his seat.

"Echizen-san! That was a nice song you played. You really are talented!" said a girl who looked like a second year. She was a brunette, short hair reaching only to the back of his neck and was pinned behind her ears.

"Yeah! You were awesome! I wish I could play like you! And you played beautifully as well the last time when we had our individual presentation!" exclaimed a black haired first year boy. He was bouncing up and down like a child.

"Yeah! I didn't expect that you were this good, Echizen-kun. You were always at one corner and not socializing with everybody." Said a tall guy, probably a second year. He wore glasses and had a messy reddish brown hair.

Ryoma stared at them blankly, wondering who the heck these people were and why they were talking to him. Did they not know that they should not be talking to strangers! And why did they know his name? Suspicious… he narrowed his eyes as he looked at them one by one.

"Will all of you pipe down? You're all too noisy. And I don't even know you people, so quit pestering me." Ryoma said in an irritated voice, turning his head towards the window and away from the trio.

The three of them looked at Ryoma disbelievingly. Didn't they introduce themselves the first time they attended club meeting? This guy sure has a bad memory.

Ryoma turned his head to them as they started introducing themselves to him.

"My name's Usui Seiko, second year." Said the brunette.

"I'm Yukimura Hideo, first year." Said the black haired one.

"And I'm Hayagawa Shouta, second year." Said the messy haired one.

Ryoma stared at them for a while with a bored expression. Then he yawns. A sweatdrop appeared behind their heads. Then Ryoma spoke.

"Ah…Sou. Echizen desu." He said. Too lazy to tell them of their first name and also forgetting that they already know his name.

"Well, nice to meet you, Echizen-san!" said the girl named Seiko while the other two looked at Ryoma with admiration.

"What?" Ryoma asked in an irritated voice after a couple of minutes. The three of them were still there beside him and were looking at him in a strange manner.

"Nothing! Hehe…" said Shouta. "You're not very sociable are you?" he added.

"Yeah. You're always sitting at one corner. And the person you only talk to is Sakuno-chan, from your class.", said Hideo.

Ryoma got up and headed for Ishikawa to ask for permission to leave early, seeing that there is nothing more interesting happening and also because of the people disturbing his peace.

"W-wait! Where are you going, Echizen-san?" asked Seiko as soon as Ryoma got up.

"Leaving. It's too noisy here." Ryoma muttered.

"Come on, man! You got to show us more of your music!" said Shouta, slinging his arms over the shoulders of the smaller boy, shuffling his hair a little.

"Yeah! Play one more piece, Echizen!" added Hideo, standing in front of Ryoma, blocking his way.

_Sigh! Don't these people have something better to do? _he shouted in his head. "Next time." he muttered.

"Yeah!" shouted Hideo, raising his arms in the air and doing a victory dance.

"Great! That'll be awesome!" said Shouta as he ruffled the hair of Ryoma, making it a lot more messy.

"Shut up, you two! Now let go of Echizen-san.", said Seiko in a calm voice, while sending a glare to the two pests that were still clinging to Ryoma.

Shouta immediately let go of the poor lad and Hideo quickly placed his hands on his mouth, effectively shutting himself up. Seiko nodded in appreciation.

"Ja.", said Ryoma as he walked out of the music room. _Glad that was over. _Ryoma thought as he got out of the room, walking on the empty hallways of the school.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

He wandered for a bit, walking aimlessly around the campus of Seishun Gakuen. Occasionally stopping to observe his surroundings or look at something interesting. Tennis practice will not be over for about 40 more minutes so he figured he could go watch them train, since he has nothing better to do.

He walked towards the tennis court and sat on the bleachers on the side of the courts. He sat there looking at the regulars practice. They are now having drills to improve their footwork. They were alternately stepping on the spaces of a rope ladder in a very fast speed. Ryoma sighed heavily and was itching to join them practice. Oh how lucky were those people, not being hindered in playing the sport they really like. Ryoma felt jealous of them. They were all free to do whatever they want without worrying that your heart might "act up" again.

Ryoma clenched his fist as he sat there, watching how they performed their training. He noticed that Momo was not really doing a good job with it. He thought that it might be because of his previous injury. He smirked and told to no one in particular, "Mada mada dane."

Suddenly, Tezuka ordered them to do 25 laps around the court. The regulars kept whining and he threatened them that he would make them run more laps if they would not shut their loud mouths. They stiffened and proceeded to run the laps.

They were running around the court, most of them not noticing that Ryoma was there, observing them. Fuji, Oishi and Inui however, noticed him looking at them. They told the rest that Ryoma was there. Eiji jumped a bit and then immediately looked at him and when he finally spotted him he dashed towards him and gave him a bone crushing deathly hug. The rest of the regulars (except Tezuka, who was still left observing the rest of the team practice) followed him to the bleachers.

Ryoma struggles to be free of the too tight hug but to no avail, the hug of his hyperactive sempai was too much. Slowly his face turns purple because of too much hug. Oishi panicked and calmed down the acrobatic player.

"Eiji! Let go of Echizen, he is turning blue!" Oishi exclaimed.

"Oops! Gomen Ochibi!" Eiji said as he released the freshman rookie, leaving him slightly panting and cluching his heart lightly.

"You should stop doing that you know, sempai?" Ryoma said, giving him a glare after he recovered from the bone crushing hug.

"Mou~ Why so cranky, Ochibi? Are you okay? Do you feel sick? Are you having a fever? Oh my gosh! Oishi, what should we do? Do you want me to take you to the nurse? Am I talking too loud?" Eiji exclaimed, moving a little too much around them.

The rest of them sweatdropped. Oishi face palmed and sighed heavily. He placed his hand on Eiji's shoulder to calm him down.

"Calm down, Eiji. You know that Echizen might not be feeling well. You should not pressure him"

A vein popped on Ryoma's head. He looked down and letting his hair cover his expression. His eyes twitched and he clenched his fists. _So that was what they were thinking… they think I could not handle myself and they think I'm sick and too ill to do anything…_ he thought darkly.

Fuji noticed the change in the mood of Ryoma and became concerned.

"Are you okay, Echizen?" he asked as he tapped the shorter boy's shoulder lightly. It was a gesture of concern. But suddenly, Ryoma grabbed his hand and threw it aside.

"Why wouldn't I be? You all think that I am weak now? Just because of what you saw yesterday?" he said in a slightly angered voice. He tried to calm himself down. Being angry is not something the doctor advised to prevent his heart from acting up. He took a deep breath and stared at his sempais.

"What are you talking about, Echizen?" asked a slightly worried Momo. He did not expect that Ryoma would act this way. He always thought that the boy was an arrogant brat but also an incredibly good tennis player.

"What I'm saying is that you all act as if you pity me? That look in your eyes says so…" he said as he looked away. _That look was similar to the ones that I always receive from all those people from the hospital back in America. They did not understand anything and just thought that I was a pitiful weak boy. _He added in his mind.

"Echizen, we don't pity you. We were all worried because you suddenly collapsed during our last practice. We just want you to know that you should rest so that you would feel better." Taka explained calmly. This caught Ryoma's attention. He looked at them questioningly. Most of them thought that the look Ryoma was giving them was not right. It was as if he could not figure out how he should react. It was like this situation was so new to him. To them, being worried for a friend is just natural when they don't feel alright. Fuji however, somehow noticed the kind of look the Ryoma showed them, and it made him a little bit sad for the young rookie.

It was true that Ryoma didn't get what they were implying. It was like they were worried about him. All the people who knew about him being sickly looked at him pitifully. Maybe it was because they knew that back then when his condition was a lot worse and he almost could not do anything. Those people knew about his sickness and thought that it was such a waste that a child with so much potential to be not so healthy. Most of the people he meets tell him that because of his sickness, he would not live a long life and he would be sick most of his life. The only people whom he knew that did not feel pity for him was his parents, his cousin and maybe some others.

He expected that the rest of the regulars would feel pity for him or would just mock him, saying that he was just pretending to be a good player when in truth, he really is weak. He looked at them again; he wondered what they felt that they now knew that he is sick.

"You're worried?" he finally asked.

"Of course! Friends worry about each other!" answered Eiji enthusiastically.

"Oh." Ryoma muttered. Finally it hit him. They were real friends and just like what they said, friends worry and look out for each other. He looked at them with a blank face and nodded his appreciation.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning for practice, Echizen." Tezuka suddenly said, appearing from behind Kaidoh, who just fssh-ed and looked away. Ryoma looked a bit taken aback by the captain's words. He just nodded and muttered a small 'yes' in reply.

After more minutes of pestering, courtesy by his sempais, he finally got tired and stood up. He insisted that he wanted to go home already and that he did not want any more of their bothersome-slash-amusing (though he would not admit it verbally) company.

After Ryoma left, Tezuka reminded the rest of the regulars about their still on-going practice and the 50 laps they ought to do because of slacking off. All of them just rushed back to the courts and continued their practice. Tezuka rubbed his aching head and thought of his sugar-high teammates and their, sometimes, idiocy.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

Ryoma walked silently and was lost in thought. He was kind of, sort of glad that his teammates did not feel pity for him. However, it was still bothersome having them worry like that. It was almost as bad as how his mother acts whenever he gets sick. Now he felt like he could trust them and this made him even more thrilled to play with them in the upcoming tournament. With guys like them on the same team, he wouldn't mind any other things other people tell him.

Unknown to Ryoma, a certain senior called his house and informed Rinko about a musical competition that would be held soon. He told Rinko that he wanted to make Ryoma join the contest along with some others, but because of his stubbornness, he wouldn't let the senior enter him into the competition. Rinko on the other hand, felt ecstatic. She said that she would love to see his son enter another type of contest aside from tennis and gave permission to the senior to register his name already for the contest.

Ryoma felt a chill and shuddered a little. He felt that it was a bad omen. He scowled at the thought and just brushed it off as he was welcomed by and overly happy Rinko as he went inside their home.

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**AN: **Hey! How was the chapter? Please leave reviews!


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: ** Hey, beloved readers! Wassup! Some of you might know that this was th last chapter I posted before I re-posted the entire thing. Sorry for not updating this one a lot more quickly. I was just being lazy and slept all day. Nah! As much as I want to update earlier, I really don't have time! College life is hectic! I might just surely die if I include this to the things I am already doing (which is a LOT!). Kidding! But I'll try to write more often. I usually do when I have free time. (Which is not really that often.) Enjoy reading and don't forget to review!

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**Chapter 6:**

Ryoma woke up early the next morning to prepare for their tennis practice. He quickly dressed up and went down the kitchen to eat breakfast. Upon arrival he noticed that they were not having the usual American style breakfast (which he was thankful for). Instead what his mother prepared was Japanese style, his favorite. He wondered what was happening and asked his mother.

"Okaa-san, why are you cooking Japanese style today? Is there an occasion?" he asked.

"Nothing much, dear. Go ahead and finish your breakfast so that you could go to school already." She answered sweetly.

Ryoma just eyed her suspiciously. There had to be something going on. Usually it was Nanako who always cook Japanese style breakfast. But today Rinko personally cooked them. It was rare since she preferred preparing Western food over Japanese food. Ryoma thought that this was the bad omen he was thinking about the night before. And something bad is going to happen! He just knew it. He stared at his mother, who was happily eating in front of him.

"Oh and by the way, one of your sempais called yesterday. Saying something about a competition…" she suddenly said, catching Ryoma's attention.

"Captain Tezuka called?" he asked suspiciously.

"No, no, no. Not your team captain on the tennis team. It was from the music club. He informed me of this competition and I told him to register you as one of the contestant. Isn't that exciting?" She said happily, while waving her chopsticks in emphasis.

"Ohh…" Ryoma muttered. He continued eating, as if the recent information did not just enter his sharp mind. Then it clicked.

"What?", he almost yelled, standing up from his seat and staring disbelievingly at his mother.

"Why, dear, do you sound so upset?" Rinko asked in a sweet voice. Maybe a little too sweet because it sent shivers to Ryoma's back and caused him to gulp and move back to his seat.

"N-no Okaa-san. I was just surprised." He said immediately, fearing the wrath of his mother. He knew this tone of voice of his mother. She usually uses it whenever she is not pleased at something or if she is angry. It promised never ending suffering and pain. He saw it sometimes whenever his stupid father acts all perverted with his stupid magazines, though he doubted that his mother would do that to him. But still, it was still creeping him out!

He cursed silently to himself and silently plotted something for his meddlesome sempai. After all, there is nothing he could do now that her mother wanted him to join the stupid contest, but to deliver revenge. After eating the delicious breakfast, he went to school and changed for the morning practices.

As some of the regulars went inside the changing room, they could not help but feel the small killing intent being emitted by the freshman rookie. They could see in his face that he is planning some kind of massacre and was failing miserably to suppress his cold and murderous aura. They silently feared and felt pity for the poor man who managed to make their adorable and cute little chibi this furious.

_BANG! _

Some of the regulars jumped in surprise as they watched the retreating back of the scary freshman. He just slammed the door of his locker shut and just stepped out of the locker room without a care in the world. Well, maybe he did somehow care, but what do they know about it? No they did not.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

This day was starting off badly for our young hero, Echizen Ryoma, who had just found out that he was entered in a musical competition without his permission. Even if that Ishikawa had somehow gotten the permission of his mother, he was still angry that their club president was this meddlesome. Although he could not do anything about joining the damn contest, he just wants to deliver his revenge to the mastermind just to get even.

He played seriously today and thrashed all his opponents during their morning practice. Even playing tennis could not make him calm down. He just needed to go to the president and punch his face real hard. Well maybe, he would not do that since he is not the type to physically harm his opponent, (Unless he uses his secret weapon, his awesome racquet and tennis balls.) so he just decided to improvise.

Right after practice he changed quickly back into his uniform, ignoring the curious questions of his sempais about him being a little bit too hot headed and harsh today. He sped out of the room and headed to his homeroom class. He was determined to make this day faster so that he could meet that stupid person and get his revenge.

As soon as he sat down his chair he immediately laid his head on the table and slept. And surely it did make the day a tad bit faster, since he slept in most of the classes. It was a good thing that Sakuno would nudge him whenever a teacher comes nearby and help him escape punishment from slacking off. He nodded his thanks to the timid girl and went back to sleeping when the teacher diverts their attention from him. Sakuno just sweatdropped and wondered what was going on.

The day went on quickly and soon it was club time. He walked briskly to the music room and searched for the president.

"Did you see Ishikawa-sempai?" he asked Seiko, whom he bumped into as he entered the room.

"Echizen! You're here! Are you going to play some more music with us today?" she asked

Echizen slightly glared at the taller girl and asked again.

"Oh! Hehe! Ishikawa-sempai just went outside to arrange the papers for the competition. He was submitting the form to the principal for approval….oh here he is!" she said pointing at the hallway filled with students. Ryoma instantly sighted the president and glared coldly at him. Seiko slightly moved backward, feeling the dark aura surrounding Ryoma.

"Oh, Echizen-kun! You're here!" Ishikawa stated.

"Why did you enter me into that stupid contest?" he asked angrily. He almost growled but still managed to keep his usual voice as to not completely lose his temper. Losing his temper was a big no-no for him. It's bad for one's health.

Ishikawa sweatdropped and explained, "Isn't it great! Your mom was so happy when she heard about it! And besides you couldn't do anything about it now. I already submitted your registration form."

_Sigh! _"Whatever. It's not like I could do something about it anyway." He said in a dark tone.

"Besides… wouldn't it be nice to share your talent to others?" Ishikawa exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

"What would be nice is if I actually won that contest and thrash all those people who call themselves musicians…" he muttered. He thought that he might as well look at the bright sight of this situation. Even if he needed to use some of his precious time in practicing his cello instead of tennis, he might as well try to win this. It would be such a bad thing if he loses in a match. (Even if it's not tennis. :D)

Ishikawa now nods in approval as Ryoma seem to be accepting the fact that he will be participating in this competition. And he was even informed that this will be the first time that the young boy will perform in front of an audience. This would be an excellent show.

"Now, would you please move aside, Echizen-kun, so that I may enter the club room?" he asked in a sweet voice.

Ryoma smirked then moved sideward. But he forgot to move his feet out of the way. And of course this caused the unknowing club president to trip and land on the floor face first. His body then flipped and his back hit the cold floor.

The people inside the room snickered and tried not to laugh at their fallen president. It would make him a lot more embarrassed than he already is. Ryoma smirked as he looked at Ishikawa on the floor.

Ishikawa's face was red due to the impact and he was trying his best not to shout at them and order them to shut up. He turned around and glared accusingly at Ryoma, who was not bothering to hide his amused face.

"Thanks a lot, Echizen-kun." He said to him sarcastically. "You purposely tripped me didn't you?" he added as he walked towards him, pointing an accusing finger at Ryoma.

"My bad. It was unintentional. I swear." He said in a not so convincing tone. He was still smirking in amusement at Ishikawa's face, not ashamed of his bad deed. He initially intended to not physically harm him, but he just disregarded his original plan. And besides, he did _not _intentionally trip him. He just forgot to remove his feet out of the way and his unknowing sempai did the rest of the work. He was just clumsy. It was not his fault that Ishikawa was naturally unobservant.

"You may leave now, Echizen-kun. Oh and come tomorrow for the club meeting, okay? I will tell you the details about the contest." He said. He sighed and then thought, _I just hope that he won't be up to something more. And besides, I just made Echizen join the contest! We are _so _going to win this! _Ishikawa just let Ryoma slide this time since he forced him to do the contest.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

_SMASH!_

"Game set and match won by Echizen." Announced the umpire as Ryoma finished the last game with a powerful smash. The last ball made a dent on the court and left a dark mark from the impact it made before. Momo just stood there stunned at the freshmen. He had just lost to the freshman rookie, barely scoring two games from the boy. He sure is hot headed today.

He went to the middle of the court and shook hands with the seemingly pissed off freshman. He watched as the boy went to the bench and covered his head with a damp towel. He noticed that the boy was panting hard. He approached and offered him cold water. Ryoma reluctantly accepted the water jug and muttered a small thank you to Momo.

"Why so hot headed today, Echizen?" asked Momo, as he slung his arms over Ryoma's shoulder.

Ryoma groaned in annoyance. "It's nothing, Momo-sempai."

"Haha! Always so stubborn. Anyway, you should reserve that energy of yours for our game two weeks from now." He told Ryoma.

"Hn. Mada mada dane." Ryoma said as he stood up and bounced a tennis ball on his red racquet. Momo snickered and chuckled as he patted Ryoma's head.

After a few more drills, Tezuka ordered the regulars to gather around him for some announcement. Their coach, Ryuuzaki Sumire was also there standing beside Tezuka.

"Now everyone, we all know that the tournament will start in two weeks' time. I expect everyone to exert more effort in our training and to not slack off." he said in a stern voice.

"Yes!" Everyone shouted.

"Do not let your guard down." Tezuka added as he dismissed the team.

As the rest of the regulars walked towards the locker room to change, Sumire called for Ryoma.

"Hey, Ryoma!"

"What is it, coach?" he asked in a bored tone.

"I heard that you will be participating in some music contest?" she asked in an amused tone.

"I was _forced _to join, okay." he said, emphasizing the word, forced. "Oh. And I think I will be late for practice tomorrow. Ishikawa-sempai said he will say some stuff about the stupid contest tommorow."

"Well, you do well with that. And don't worry about doing laps. I will tell Tezuka that you asked permission to be late." She said, walking away from Ryoma.

_Well that was weird. _Ryoma thought as he continued to walk towards the locker room to change.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

The next day, Ryoma went to the club room with Sakuno. She told him that Ishikawa also wanted her to attend their meeting today. They entered the room quietly and sat at their usual spot near the windows at the back of the room. Stared outside and wished that Ishikawa would tell them whatever he needed to say quickly.

"Good afternoon everyone. I'm here to announce to you that our representatives for the upcoming music contest will be Echizen-kun accompanied by Ryuuzaki-chan and yours truly accompanied by Hayagawa-kun."

Sakuno was shocked to hear that she would be participating in the contest. Although she would not be a contestant, it still made her proud to be chosen as one of the accompaniment. She looked at Ryoma and noticed that he was staring with interest at Ishikawa. She blushed a little at the amused look Ryoma was giving off because it looked really adorable.

"Echizen-kun, you are free to choose whatever piece you would like to play. Just let me know about it before next week." He told Ryoma, who just nodded in agreement. "Oh I almost forgot." He suddenly added.

"The contest will be held in two weeks. It will be a Monday so we must hurry and practice quickly." He told Ryoma. This got his attention because he distinctly remembered that the tennis tournament will be on a Saturday. It was just two days before the music contest. He suddenly faced Sakuno, who jumped in surprise.

"Ne, Ryuuzaki. Would you mind if we just practice over at your house? I still have tennis practice so we cannot do it here at school." He asked her monotonously.

"Of course, Ryoma-kun. Why don't you just ask baa-chan to be excused for the practice?" she asked.

"We will also have the tennis tournament two days before the music contest. So I need to attend, though I could ask her if I could be dismissed earlier." He said.

"Oh. Okay. Just tell me right away what piece you want to play so that I could already practice my part."

"Sure. I already have something in mind actually." He smirked as he told her about the piece he wanted to perform.

"I think is a nice choice." She said, smiling at him. Ryoma smirked as he stood and prepared to go to his tennis practice. Sakuno told him that she would go home already so that she could practice her part already. He just shrugged off and headed to the tennis courts.

Upon reaching, he quickly changed into his sports attire and warmed up a little. He ran a couple of laps and joined the other regulars.

"Nya! Ochibi is late!" Eiji exclaimed as he noticed the capped boy walk towards them leisurely as if he wasn't late.

"I gave him permission. He needed to do something." told Sumire to them. Ryoma smirked and the others just nodded while the some (namely, Inui, Fuji and Tezuka) eyed her suspiciously.

Tezuka just gave a stern glare at Ryoma, who in turn just shrugged his shoulder. Tezuka called the attention of the regulars and told them to resume their training.

After doing the usual drills, Tezuka ordered the regulars to pair up to have practice matches in singles and doubles. Everyone paired up and it ended in Fuji VS Kawamura, Momo VS Oishi, Ryoma VS Kaidoh and Inui VS Eiji. Tezuka was the one who became the referee of the games.

At the end Fuji, Oishi, Ryoma and Inui won their matches. The rest of the regulars was forced to drink Inui's latest version of his vegetable juice and every single one of them passed out after one sip. They didn't even get the chance to run to the water fountains to wash away the ridiculous taste of the accursed drink. Their corpses were dragged at the corner of the tennis court so that their bodies won't bother the rest of the team who are still training. The others just watched in terror as they saw small bubbles oozing out of their mouth, hoping that they would not have the same fate as them later on after the doubles match.

After the incident, the rest of the regulars plus Inui, paired up for doubles matches. Tezuka was the referee again. The match was between Inui and Oishi pair VS Ryoma and Fuji pair.

Ryoma was still not good enough for doubles. He just keep on running after all the balls going into their side of the court even if Fuji was closer to it. Fuji watched in amusement as Ryoma ran around the court. Tezuka just shook his head and gave up on the thought that Ryoma would be able to play a decent doubles match. The boy was only meant to play singles. He sighed as he proclaimed Inui and Oishi pair the winner.

Ryoma muttered something about rude people forcing him to play doubles and how he despised them. As he was walking to the side of the court to fix his things since they will be dismissed soon, a single glass of greenish, brownish thingy with purplish smoke coming off interrupted his walk. He began to sweat bullets and motioned to grab the glass albeit with shaking hands. He stared at the weird drink and gulped. He glanced at Fuji and noticed that he just finished drinking his share without a problem. He cursed silently about a specific sadistic tensai and about how life is so unfair to him. He glanced at the corner and noticed that the others are beginning to regain consciousness. He just wished that he won't pass out just like the losers slumped at the corner, who were now looking at him with anticipation, waiting for him to join them in their embarrassment.

He took one last look at the glass and slowly brought it closer to his mouth. He quickly drank the awful stuff and immediately made a mad dash towards the water fountain. He quickly washed away the awful taste that nearly made him lose consciousness. He breathed deeply and drank fresh water and sat down, panting.

The others just watched him in awe. They all thought that their young rookie was really an extraordinary kid.

* * *

**AN: **How was the chapter? I hope you really are liking this! Oh my gosh! I am panicking right now! Tell me what you think altready! XP Review!


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: ** Now THIS is a new chapter! Great, isn't it? haha! I'm awesome like that! Read on to find out what happens next!

* * *

**Chapter 7:**

"This sucks." Ryoma muttered as he stopped playing his chosen cello piece for the competition inside their club room. Sakuno also stopped playing. She looked at him curiously and sighed exasperatedly. Ryoma glared at their club president, still blabbering about him being too stiff after once again interrupting his _almost_ flawless playing. Ishikawa argued that Ryoma's face was too stiff and that he looked like a robot. It was just stupid. Ryoma thought that it really doesn't matter. And besides he played it perfectly. No mistake, whatsoever!

"Why don't you loosen up and just put your feelings into your playing." Ishikawa suggested. "You're too stiff! It's not nice to look at! Why don't you use me as an example? Stop acting too stubborn and listen to me for once."

_Sigh. _"Why would I want to use you as an example? You make funny expressions when you play your violin." Ryoma said.

"Echizen, you should stop arguing!" Hideo said. (A/N: Remember him from chapter 5?) "You really are a talented cellist but your face does not blend well with that piece you chose to play in the contest." He really idolized Ryoma since the first day of their club activities. He was not that great in playing the cello as Ryoma was but he had to admit that the guy was really using his poker face too much that it was almost the only expression that he shows most of the time.

"Whatever. Maybe you should be the one entered in this stupid competition instead of me, since you know a lot." He said monotonously.

"No, no, no, no! I'm still learning, okay? You just fix that face of yours. Ahahaha~" Hideo said as he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"He's right! Echizen! Loosen up a bit!" Shouta said (A/N: He's also from chapter 5…) as he ruffles Ryoma's hair playfully.

Ryoma grunted in annoyance and tried to swat his hand away from him. "Sure, whatever. Will you remove your hand from my head, _sempai_?" He said threateningly.

"Ehehe~ Gomen~ Chillax man! You're too hot headed!" Shouta said as he removed his hand from the annoyed freshman and placed it at the back of his head, grinning like an idiot. (From Ryoma's perspective, of course.)

"Let's just play once more Ryoma-kun. And try to fix your expression as well." Sakuno said.

Ryoma sighed and nodded. He readied his position and waited for the piano to start playing. Right on cue, he started playing the cello. The sounds of the piano, played by Sakuno, blended well with Ryoma's cello. The piano sounded perfectly and it did not overpower the main instrument, the cello. Ryoma played perfectly. There was no note missed and he matched the piano and played perfectly. He breathed deeply while playing and tried to loosen his expression and fell the song.

Ishikawa saw this and smiled triumphantly, shooting his hand in the air in victory. Shouta and Hideo did an 'okay' sign to Ryoma when he glanced at them. Ryoma smiled slightly and continued playing until the end of the song.

"Perfect!" Ishikawa exclaimed, clapping his hands.

"Really cool, Echizen!" Hideo said as he patted Ryoma's shoulders in approval. "I only wish I could play like that! Awesomeness!"

"Yeah! Great job, Echizen! You too, Ryuzaki-chan. You played well." Shouta said.

"Great job, everyone! One week till the competition! Let's do our best!" Ishikawa exclaimed as he gathered the members around. "Alright. You may now go home."

Ryoma returned his borrowed instrument to the cabinet and followed the rest outside. Ishikawa reminded him to attend their practices tomorrow afternoon. That meant that he will not be able to attend tennis practice. He reluctantly agreed to the hyperactive president. It was not like he could do something about it. He did not attend their practice last week so it was only fair that he attend now that the day of the competition is around the corner.

He saw Sakuno waiting for him outside the club room, holding some piano sheets. He approached her and told her that he won't be able to walk her home today because he wanted to talk to Sumire about his recent absence from their afternoon tennis practice. Sakuno just nodded and headed for the exit ahead of him.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

Sumire watches the regulars run laps around the tennis court. They were wearing weights to help increase their stamina during games. There was just a slight problem. They were missing a player. Yes, it was Ryoma. He did not notify the coach about his absence today. She was getting worried (and slightly irritated) about the boy and wondered if he was feeling just fine. She knew that Ryoma did not miss school because Sakuno told her that he attended his classes.

She knew that the tennis prodigy would not miss tennis practice if he could help it. The boy is too obsessed with the sport that you had to practically drag the boy out of the court to stop him at times.

"Coach Ryuuzaki." A familiar voice called him from behind, interrupting her thinking. Sumire turned around and saw Ryoma.

"Ryoma~" She said in a threatening voice. Dark aura surrounding her as she slowly walked closer to the young rookie.

Ryoma gulped and prepared for the much expected retaliation. But instead a hand pinched his cheek and pulled it that he feared that it would actually come off.

"Ow…" He said monotonously as he rubbed his aching cheek.

"Why did you not attend practice, huh?" Sumire asked angrily.

"Ishikawa-sempai told me to come. I could not refuse because he dragged me out of the classroom right after classes. I did not have the chance to tell it to you." He answered.

Sumire sighed and looked at Ryoma tiredly. "Okay. At least you have a valid reason."

"One more thing." Ryoma said as he looked up to Sumire.

"What is it?" She asked suspiciously.

"I think I could not be able to attend afternoon practices tomorrow, or the day after that or the day after that…" Ryoma said unsurely.

"What a bother." Sumire commented. "I guess it's fine. You attended last week's practices anyway. Also we will only do light training this following days to not strain the muscles too much."

"Okay. Thanks." Ryoma said, bowing slightly.

"Just don't slack off and try to train on your own."

"Yes." Ryoma said in understanding. He already planned on practicing on his own anyway. "I'll be going now then."

"Okay." Sumire said as she watched the retreating back of Ryoma. She sighed and noticed that everyone was dismissed already. She then went back up to the teacher's room.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

As the other regulars vacated the locker room, they noticed a familiar figure of a certain someone talking to Sumire. They watched as that particular person bowed and casually walked away from the old coach.

Yes. It was Ryoma.

The regulars eyed him suspiciously and thought about why their ochibi missed practice today, of all days. For goodness sake it was four days before the district tournament! Ryoma should at least feel a little bit more responsible and attend practices punctually. Tezuka was beginning to get a tiny bit worried about the boy because he knows that it was not like him to skip practices just when their tournament is just around the corner. Although he suspects that the Ryoma still practices on his home during his own time but he couldn't help but be a little suspicious and worried as well for the boy for missing so much practice time.

"Sempai, why do you think Echizen skipped practice today?" asked Momo.

"I miss Ochibi! I hope he is not sick or something!" exclaimed Eiji.

"Maybe he needed to do some homework or something…" Taka murmured to himself.

"Nah! That guy won't miss practice just for that! I bet he went early because he has a date!" said Momo while giggling softly like a fangirl.

"Are you stupid? Echizen isn't like that!" snapped Kaidoh.

"Who you callin' stoopid! Huh? Mamushiii?~" taunted Momo as he glared at Kaidoh.

"Will you guys calm down?" Oishi said in his mother-hen mode.

"There is 74% that Echizen is having an important event of some sort coming up soon and 89% that it was the reason that he was not able to attend practice. Though I don't have sufficient data as to accurately tell you what exactly is this 'important event' aside from the district tournament, that is." Inui stated.

The others just sweatdropped and stared at him weirdly.

"Where do you get all those information anyway? Do you have a spy working for you or something? Or maybe you hire high class ninjas to spy on us? That's why you seem to know everything!" accused Momo.

Inui's glasses glinted slightly as he adjusted it (for dramatic effect). "That… is classified information." He said as he smirked at their dumbfounded expressions.

"Well, whatever he is preoccupied with better not hinder him from his performance this weekend." stated the ever stoic captain.

"Maa~ maa~ why don't we just ask Echizen?" asked the sadistic tensai as he faced his teammates, who by now are hiding behind the bushes near the exit gate. They had been speaking in hushed voices till now and are unconsciously (?) spying on their young rookie.

"And why are we hiding anyway? With Tezuka included? This ,indeed , is really a surprise." Fuji sad as he laughed in a creepy way that creeped out his teammates.

"Cuz it's more fun! It's like we are in a spy movie or something! Nya~"

"Yeah! We should find out what is behind Echizen's lack of punctuality!"

"Shut up, peach! He will hear us with your loud voice!"

"Speak for yourself, viper!"

"Indeed, this is a more entertaining way of gathering more data. Maybe I should do this more often. Of course without you guys tagging along." Inui muttered to himself.

"Are we not invading his privacy or something by doing this? Maybe we should just leave Echizen alone and go home."

"Yeah! This is sooo uncool."

"Hay Tezuka, why don't you contribute to our conversation since you are already here?" asked a certain tensai.

_Cough cough _"For your information, Fuji. I did not come here to spy on Echizen. I'll go home now." Tezuka said as he stood up and walked away.

And with Tezuka gone, the rest of the gang was left there hiding behind lamp posts near Ryoma's house. Not long after Taka excused himself, saying something about being needed in their sushi restaurant. And that left Momo, Inui, Eiji, Oishi and Fuji. Kaidoh left them without saying a work after their team captain left.

"This is getting boring, nya~"

"Yeah! Maybe we should sneak up to his room or something? We could find a clue there!" Momo exclaimed.

"No! In fact we should already stop this! Let's just go and leave Echizen alone. He will tell if something important is coming up… I'm sure he will…" reasoned Oishi.

"Saa~ Even though I find this 'spying' really entertaining, I do agree to Oishi that we should leave. Besides it's already getting dark."

"Nya! If Fujiko and Oishi says so~" said the still jumpy acrobatic player.

"So, this sums up our spying expedition for the day. I will be excusing myself now. I need to tabulate the new acquired data and update the latest volume of info about Echizen. Later then."

Now the rest of them split up and went home. And at the end, they did not find much about the reason why Ryoma was missing their practices recently. In fact, it could be considered a waste of time. But what's done is done. And besides they did somehow had fun in doing all those "spying", although nothing much came up significant from it.

~~~~hohohohoho~~~~

The next morning, Ryoma attended the morning practices. And just as expected they did not do strenuous activities. They just did the usual stuff: running laps around the court, practice games and doing their personal routine assigned by Inui to them.

"Hey, Echizen!" Momo called as he caught up with the running freshman.

"What?" Ryoma asked.

"You know, you should go to our afternoon practices like a responsible regular player. Just like me!"

"Whatever. A sempai asked a favor from me. I couldn't refuse because he kept on pestering me about it. So I have no choice."

"Really?" Momo asked, not sure if he should believe him or not.

"Yeah." Ryoma simply said as he hurried up a little bit and finished his last lap.

The morning practices ended quickly with Ryoma being pestered by almost all of his upper class men. _Honestly, are older people really annoying or is it just them? They seriously need to lower their energies and use it to more sensible things. _Ryoma grudgingly thought as he walked to his homeroom class.

Classes went on quickly and soon it was already time for Ryoma and Sakuno to attend their club practice. They silently walked to the music room, got their respective instruments and waited for Ishikawa to arrive. When he finally arrived, he assigned the other members to do their own practices in the adjacent room. Now, Ishikawa, Shouta, Ryoma, Sakuno and a few others who wanted to help them practice stayed in the room.

Ishikawa was the first one to practice his violin piece for the competition. He was accompanied by Shouta on the piano. Although they made some minor mistakes, everything ran smoothly after they were noted. Next was Ryoma and Sakuno's turn.

"Okay, Echizen-kun! Let me see if you have improved. And I don't want any more of your poker face so try and fix that like last time. And this time make it look more natural." Ishikawa instructed them.

"Hn." Ryoma muttred as he sat and positioned the cello correctly in front of him. He looked at Sakuno and signaled her to start playing. He listened intently to the piano and waited for his part to enter.

_Perfect. _He thought as he entered just at the right time. He played smoothly. He did not look at the music sheet that was in front of him. He memorized the song by heart and was determined to play it perfectly so that the loud Ishikawa would stop interfering him while he play.

They finished the song without mistake and no interruption. He looked up to see the startled faces of the people in the room.

"What?" he asked, breaking the silence instantly. Suddenly he was being praised from all directions.

"I knew you could do it properly, Echizen! Now you just have to do that again this Sunday and then we'll be sure to win!" he said gleefully. "Unless you beat my awesome performance, that is." He added at the end.

Ryoma scowled at the last part and glared at Ishikawa briefly. He turned to Sakuno and nodded to her.

"Good job." He said monotonously.

"You too. I'm sure you'll do beautifully on the competition." Complimented Sakuno.

"Hn." He muttered silently as he sood up from the chair.

"Echizen! You did a great job! I knew you had it in you!" Shouta said while patting Ryoma's head affectionately. Ryoma scowled and removed the offending hand. He did not even know what _'it' _was that he was saying.

"Good work, Echizen. If you practice more at home then I'm sure that you could do a greater performance." Ishikawa said in his serious tone. He has gotten over his earlier excitement and now reverted back to his _super bad-ass club president mode. _Though he was the only one who thinks like that about himself. Most of them only think that he is just a narcistic, bossy and loud person.

"Right." Ryoma answered absentmindedly. Although he was also interested in beating up serious butts during the musical competition, he still preferred the adrenaline rush of tennis. And he gets to enjoy his beloved sport as well.

After another round of practicing, Ishikawa dismissed them. They returned their instruments, gathered their things and prepared to go home.

Ryoma offered to walk Sakuno home again and she reluctantly agreed after much argument. She could not lose to the famed Prince of stubbornness. They silently walked home and when they reached Sakuno's house, she thanked him.

"Thanks again, Ryoma-kun." She told him.

"No problem, Ma'am. I know you might get lost or might be attacked by some evil forces, so I took the responsibility into myself to see you home safely." He stated monotonously, but with a slight mocking and amusement in his tone.

Skuno blushed turned around murmuring something that what he said was not true. She went inside, stomping her foot angrily and shooed Ryoma away.

Ryoma chuckled silently and headed back to his home.

* * *

**AN: **I know right! This one is not as long as the others! Sorry bout that! But I just have to end it at this point! It is essential so that I won't mix up the next chapters!

Reviews, anyone? :P


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